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
London County Council 1897
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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15
Deaths from several classes of disease.
Deaths from the several classes of disease registered in the registration County of London (including the lunatic asylums and hospitals for infectious disease belonging to the county) are given by the Registrar-General in the Annual Summary of Births, Deaths and Causes of Death, and the following table has been prepared from the figures contained in the summary relating to the year 1897-
| Causes of death. | Corrected annual average 1887-96. | 1897. |
|---|---|---|
| Zymotic diseases | 13,357 | |
| Parasitic „ | 47 | |
| Dietetic „ | 694 | |
| Constitutional diseases | 16,487 | |
| Developmental „ | 5,727 | |
| Nervous „ | 8,041 | |
| Diseases of organs of special sense | 207 | |
| Diseases of the circulatory system | 6,967 | |
| Respiratory diseases | 13,987 | |
| Diseases of the Digestive system | 5,837 | |
| „ „ Lymphatic „ | 98 | |
| „ „ Urinary „ | 2,424 | |
| „ „ Generative „ | 537 | |
| „ „ Locomotive „ | 244 | |
| „ „ Integumentary system | 320 | |
| Violence (accident) | 2,959 | |
| Violence (other than accident) | 510 | |
| Other causes | 2,500 | |
The following table gives more detailed information concerning the principal diseases included in the constitutional, nervous, and respiratory groups-
| Causes of death. | Corrected annual average 1887-96. | 1897. |
|---|---|---|
| Rheumatic fever, rheumatism of heart | 368 | |
| Rheumatism | 95 | |
| Gout | 134 | |
| Rickets | 260 | |
| Cancer | 3,908 | |
| Tabes mesenterica | 989 | |
| Tubercular meningitis | 1,208 | |
| Phthisis | 7,864 | |
| Scrofula, tuberculosis | 923 | |
| Other constitutional diseases | 738 | |
| Apoplexy | 2,212 | |
| Epilepsy | 321 | |
| Convulsions | 1,681 | |
| Other diseases of the brain and nervous system | 3,827 | |
| Croup | 72 | |
| Bronchitis | 7,408 | |
| Pneumonia | 5,053 | |
| Pleurisy | 271 | |
| Other diseases of the respiratory system | 1,183 |
With a view to enabling more exact comparison to be made of certain causes of death in London
sanitary districts, the following table has been prepared, showing the death rates, per 1,000 living,
from rheumatic fever, cancer, tabes mesenterica, tubercular meningitis, phthisis, other tubercular
diseases and respiratory diseases. It should be pointed out, however, that these death rates are
uncorrected for differences in the age and sex constitution of the populations.