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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| Towns. | 1887-96. | 1897. | Towns. | 1887-96. | 1897. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol | 1.98 | 1.83 | |||
| Manchester | 3.50 | 3.81 | Nottingham | 2.39 | 2.81 |
| Liverpool | 3.52 | 383 | Bradford | 2.40 | 2.22 |
| Birmingham | 2.76 | 3.88 | Hull | 2.64 | 3.25 |
| Leeds | 2.62 | 2.80 | Salford | 4.40 | 5.50 |
| Sheffield | 3.27 | 3.49 | West Ham | 3.00 | 2.61 |
The following table shows that the London death rate from the first six of these principal
zymotic diseases, viz., smallpox, measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, whooping cough and fever was in
1887.96 higher than that of Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Berlin, Vienna and Rome, and
in the year 1897 was only exceeded by that of St. Petersburg-
| Towns. | 1887-96. | 1897. | Towns. | 1887-96. | 1897. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | St. Petersburg | 3.14 | 4.54 | ||
| Paris | 1.55 | 0.68 | Berlin | 1.53 | 0.88 |
| Brussels | 1.07 | 0.51 | Vienna | 1.77 | 1.16 |
| Amsterdam | 1.20 | 0.59 | Rome | 1.87 | 0.65 |
| Copenhagen | 2.05 | 0.57 | New York | 2.34 | 1.44 |
| Stockholm | 2.28 | 0.60 |
The death rates from the principal zymotic diseases in the several sanitary districts of London in 1897 and the period 1887-96 are shown in the following table-
| Sanitary district. | Deaths in 1897. | Death rate per 1,000 living. | Sanitary district. | Deaths in 1897. | Death rate per 1,000 living. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1887-96. | 1897. | 1887-96. | 1897. | ||||
| Paddington | 243 | 2.02 | 1.94 | Shoreditch | 496 | 3.69 | 4.07 |
| Kensington | 304 | 2.15 | 1.78 | Bethnal-green | 439 | 3.76 | 3.41 |
| Hammersmith | 211 | 3.15 | 1.99 | Whitechapel | 171 | 2.99 | 2.16 |
| Fulham | 362 | 3.04 | St. George.in.the-East | 204 | 4.41 | 4.27 | |
| Chelsea | 244 | 2.73 | 2.55 | Limehouse | 206 | 4.15 | 3.54 |
| St. George, Hanover-square | 89 | 1.60 | 1.10 | Mile-end Old-town | 330 | 3.42 | 2.97 |
| Poplar | 519 | 3.27 | 3.07 | ||||
| Westminster | 131 | 2.47 | 2.47 | St. Saviour, Southwark | 91 | 3.34 | 3.66 |
| St. James | 42 | 1.91 | 1.87 | St. George, Southwark | 262 | 3.78 | 4.35 |
| Marylebone | 227 | 2.27 | 1.61 | Newington | 439 | 3.21 | 3.59 |
| Hampstead | 90 | 1.34 | 1.16 | St. Olave | 34 | 3.15 | 2.96 |
| Pancras | 597 | 2.66 | 2.47 | Bermondsey | 371 | 3.20 | 4.35 |
| Islington | 653 | 2.60 | 1.91 | Roth erhithe | 132 | 3.13 | 3.26 |
| Stoke Newington | 72 | 2.47 | Lambeth | 791 | 2.61 | 2.65 | |
| Hackney | 626 | 2.90 | Battersea | 470 | 2.54 | 2.79 | |
| St. Giles | 61 | 2.38 | 1.63 | Wandsworth | 370 | 1.91 | |
| St. Martin-in-the-Fields | 15 | 1.94 | 1.19 | Camberwell | 750 | 2.76 | 2.91 |
| Greenwich | 405 | 2.85 | 2.27 | ||||
| Strand | 48 | 2.51 | 2.06 | Lewisham | 180 | 1.67 | 1.66 |
| Holborn | 85 | 2.94 | 2.79 | Woolwich | 105 | 2.23 | 2.54 |
| Clerkenwell | 238 | 3.61 | 3.61 | Lee | 56 | 2.08 | 1.43 |
| St. Luke | 157 | 3.78 | 3.82 | Plumstead | 120 | 1.97 | |
| London, City of | 50 | 1.43 | 1.66 | ||||
The eastern group of districts had in 1897 the highest mortality from the principal zymotic
diseases, viz., 330 per 1,000 living, the western group the lowest (2.10). Among the sanitary districts,
St. George-the-Martyr and Bermondsey had the highest death rates in 1897 (4.35) and St. GeorgeHanover-square,
the lowest (1.10).
1 See footnote (2), page 7. 2 See footnote (1), page 7.
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