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 1899
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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18
Measles.
The deaths from measles in the Administrative County of London in 1899 (52 weeks)
numbered 2,141, as compared with 3,077 in 1898.
The death rates from this disease per 1,000 living in 1899 and preceding periods have been
as follows—
| 1851-60 | 0.53 | 1894 | 0.761 |
| 1861-70 | 0.58 | 1895 | 0.601 |
| 1871-80 | 0.51 | 1896 | 0.821 |
| 1881-90 | 0.64 | 1897 | 0.431 |
| 1891 | 0.431 | 1898 | 0.681 |
| 1892 | 0.791 | 1899 | 0.471 |
| 1893 | 0.381 |
The death rate in each year since 1840 in relation to the mean death rate of the period
1841-99 is shown in diagram V.
If the London measles death rate be compared with the death rates of the following large
towns of England it will be seen that in the period 1889-98 the London death rate exceeded the
death rates of all except Manchester, Liverpool and Salford, while in 1899 the London death rate
was lower than any except Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol and Bradford.
| Towns. | 1889-98. | 1899. | Towns. | 1889-98. | 1899. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 0.622 | 0.472 | Bristol | 0.53 | 0.13 |
| Manchester | 0.82 | 1.30 | Nottingham | 0.39 | 0.58 |
| Liverpool | 0.68 | 0.50 | Bradford. | 0.44 | 0.32 |
| Birmingham | 0.50 | 0.38 | Hull | 0.50 | 0.51 |
| Leeds | 0.55 | 0.37 | Salford | 0.97 | 0.97 |
| Sheffield | 0.59 | 0.61 | West Ham | 0.60 | 0.68 |
The following table shows that the measles death rate in London was higher than that of any of the undermentioned foreign towns in the period 1889-98, and in 1899 was higher than that of any except Brussels, Stockholm and St. Petersburg.
| Towns. | 1889-98. | 1899. | Towns. | 1889-98. | 1899. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 0.622 | 0.472 | St. Petersburg | 0.60 | 0.58 |
| Paris | 0.39 | 0.36 | Berlin | 0.17 | 0.29 |
| Brussels | 0.34 | 0.47 | Vienna | 0.57 | 0.42 |
| Amsterdam | 0.31 | 0.02 | Rome | 0.39 | 0.06 |
| Copenhagen | 0.24 | 0.28 | New York | 0.32 | 0.17 |
| Stockholm | 0.33 | 0.50 |
In the distribution of measles mortality in London throughout the. year 1899 the eastern
group of districts had the highest death rate and the western the lowest. Among the sanitary
districts St. George-in-the-East had the highest death rate (1.20) and Plumstead and Paddington
the lowest (0.05). During the first quarter of the year the measles mortality in London was 0.34
per 1,000 living, the death rates in the northern, central and eastern groups of districts exceeding
this average. During the second quarter of the year the measles death rate in London rose to
0.61 per 1,000 living, the death rates in the northern and eastern groups of districts being above
the London average. In the third and fourth quarters of the year the London death rate
declined to 0'47 per 1,000 living, and the eastern and southern groups of districts were above the
London average in each of these quarters. In each quarter of the year the eastern group of
districts had a measles death rate considerably in excess of the London average.
1 See footnote ('), page 3.
2 See footnote (2), page #.