London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
St Pancras 1888
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras, Metropolitan Borough]
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14
The Zymotic death rate was 2.64 per 1000 of population, that of London being
2.53, and the proportion per 1000 of total deaths was 139 compared with 147 for
the previous ten years.
The incidence of deaths from Zymotic Diseases in the Sub-Districts is shown in the following table
| Sub-Districts. | Numbers. | Per 1000 Population. | Per 1000 Total Deaths. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regent's Park | 79 | 1.96 | 123.4 |
| Tottenham Court | 52 | 1.93 | 108.7 |
| Gray's Inn Lane | 80 | 2.59 | 124.4 |
| Somers Town | 105 | 3.08 | 124.8 |
| Camden Town | 33 | 2.01 | 110.0 |
| Kentish Town | 296 | 3.09 | 155.8 |
| St. Pancras | 645 | 2.64 | 139.3 |
For full details of the number of deaths from the Zymotic Diseases which
follow, see Tables 8 A, 13, and C at the end of the Report.
SMALL-POX.
One death only occurred from Small-pox in 1888; in the previous year there
was no death from this disease, and but two in 1886. The effect of the action of
the Metropolitan Asylums Board in removing cases of small-pox out of London
and transferring them to Darenth, is slowly but surely being felt. Compare the
number of deaths of the previous ten years in Table 5.
MEASLES.
This is one of the diseases the deaths from which have shown a decided
increase, the numbers being in excess of any other year during the decennium.
This was due to an epidemic of the disease which swept across the Parish from
north-west to south-east, in spite of elimination from school of all children
affected or coming from infected houses, and of the exercise of strict vigilance by
enquiry at all infected houses. In the short time it took to accomplish this it was
found that the epidemic was abating, and the drastic alternative of closing the
schools was not resorted to. It is very doubtful whether closing the schools is of as
much value as supposed, an epidemic of measles rapidly expends itself, and by the
time it lias been found necessary to close the schools, is generally on the wane.
An important point to decide is whether the children are any the less likely to come
into contact playing together promiscuously' out of school, than they are in the classrooms
or school-ground. It was found that the very young children not attending
school were a fertile source of the disease. The best means of checking the spread
of measles is a subject that requires serious consideration, seeing that more deaths
were caused by this disease than any other Zymotic disease, not excluding Diarrhoea.
Some earlier action than the crude method of closing schools would appear to be