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 1931
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras, Metropolitan Borough]
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Return showing the number of Persons successfully vaccinated and re-vaccinated at the cost of the rates by the Medical Officers of Institutions and the Public Vaccinators during the year ended 30th September, 1931 :—
| Name of Institution or Vaccination District. | Name of the Medical Officer or Public Vaccinator. | Nos. of Successful Primary Vaccinations of Persons. | No. of Successful Re-vaccinations, i.e., Successful Vaccination of Persons who had been Successfully Vaccinated at some previous time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under one year of age. | One year and upwards. | Total. | |||
| Ward 1 . | Dr. N. J. Goodchild.. | 153 | 22 | 175 | 5 |
| „ 2 | „ F. L. Pelly | 143 | 23 | 166 | 4 |
| Wards 3 and 4 | „ J. Wigg | 354 | 35 | 389 | 8 |
| „ 5, 6, and 7 | „ A. E. Tait | 338 | 56 | 394 | 14 |
| Ward 8 | „ C. H. A. Alderton | 150 | 10 | 160 | 10 |
| Highgate Hospital | ,, C. Thackray | — | —. | — | 5 |
| St. Pancras Hospital | ,, W. Feldman | 4 | — | 4 | 9 |
| Totals | 1142 | 146 | 1288 | 55 | |
SCARLET FEVER.
The number of cases notified was 435, as compared with 659 cases during the previous
year. It was subsequently ascertained that 35 cases had been incorrectly diagnosed. The actual
number of cases was therefore 400. Two deaths occurred; this equals a case mortality of 0.5
per hundred cases.
Return Cases.—This term is applied to cases of Scarlet Fever which occur in a house
within 28 days of the return from hospital of a previous case. There were 15 such cases
during the year. Of these three were probably infected from one source, two from another,
and the remaining ten each from single cases still carrying the infection after the termination
of their treatment in hospital. In tracing the clinical histories it was found that in five houses
the original case had definitely developed a nasal discharge shortly after leaving hospital.
Such discharges are known to be highly infectious. Several other primary cases were reported
to have had colds. In four cases there were no illness of any kind in the persons who were
just back from hospital, but as the second cases fell within the above definition they are
included.
Multiple cases in one house—that is, several cases occurring more or less together—are
not as frequent as one might expect. In twenty families there were two such cases and in
six families three multiple cases in each home.
DIPHTHERIA.
The number of cases notified was 334, as compared with 568 cases during the previous
year. It was subsequently reported by the hospital authorities that 56 cases had been incorrectly
diagnosed, the actual number of cases was therefore 278. This equals an attack rate of 1.4
per 1,000 of population. Nineteen deaths occurred, giving a case mortality of 6.8 per cent.
Investigation of multiple cases—that is, several cases occurring more or less together
in one house —shows that in 14 families there were two such cases and in eight families three
multiple cases in each home. In addition, there were two small epidemic outbreaks, one of
six cases and the other of five. The latter was found to be due to the persistent carelessness
of the mother of the family and there was one death.