London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1905
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
This page requires JavaScript
39
The variations in the age-incidence of diphtheria mortality in London and their relation to
school attendance during the period 1861-1905 are discussed in an appendix to this report (see Appendix
I.).
Proportion of cases of diphtheria removed to hospital.
It will be seen from diagram XII. that the proportion of cases of diphtheria removed to the
hospitals of the Metropolitan Asylums Board was about the same as that in the preceding year.
Whooping-cough.
The death-rates from this disease in 1905 and preceding periods have been as follows—
| Period. | Death rate per 1,000 persons living. | Period. | Death rate per 1,000 persons living. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1841-50 | 0.87 | 1901 | 0.351 |
| 1851-60 | 0.88 | 1902 | 0.401 |
| 1861-70 | 0.88 | 1903 | 0.35l |
| 1871-80 | 0.81 | 1904 | 0.321 |
| 1881-90 | 0.69 | 1905 | 0.321 |
| 1891-1900 | 0.501 |
In view of the fall of the birth-rate it is desirable that the whooping-cough death-rate of children
under five years of age should be stated. The following are the death-rates of children under five
years of age.
The steady fall of the death-rate during these periods is conspicuous:-
| Period. | Death-rate. | Period. | Death-rate. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1851-60 | 6.56 | 1901 | 3.132 |
| 1861-70 | 6.53 | 1902 | 3.562 |
| 1871-80 | 6.02 | 1903 | 3.162 |
| 1881-90 | 5.34 | 1904 | 2.912 |
| 1891-1900 | 4.212 | 1905 | 2.882 |
The death-rate in each year since 1840 in relation to the mean of the period 1841-1905 is shown
in diagram XIV., while the deaths in each month since 1890 in relation to the mean monthly deaths
of the period 1891-1900, are shown in diagram VII., page 30.
It will be seen from the following table that the London whooping-cough death-rate was in the
decennium 1895-1904 exceeded by the death-rates of Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, West Ham,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Salford, and in 1905 exceeded the death-rates of all the undermentioned
large English towns except Bri tol, West Ham, Bradford, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Hull
| Towns. | 1895-1904. | 1905. | Towns. | 1895-1904. | 1905. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 0.412 | 0.323 | West Ham | 0.47 | 0.56 |
| Liverpool | 0.52 | 0.20 | Bradford | 0.29 | 0.34 |
| Manchester | 0.49 | 0.31 | Newcastle-upon-Tyne | 0.43 | 0.33 |
| Birmingham | 0.49 | 0.29 | Hull | 0.34 | 0.50 |
| Leeds | 0.38 | 0.26 | Nottingham | 0.33 | 0.24 |
| Sheffield | 0.39 | 0.29 | Salford | 0.60 | 0.20 |
| Bristol | 0.33 | 0.34 | Leicester | 0.31 | 0.22 |
The following table shows that the London whooping-cough death-rate was both in the decennium
1895-1904 and the year 1905 higher than that of any of the undermentioned foreign towns.
| Towns. | 1895-1904. | 1905. | Towns. | 1895-1904. | 1905. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 0.412 | 0.322 | St. Petersburg | 0.22 | 0.27 |
| Paris | 0.13 | 0.11 | Berlin | 0.28 | 0.22 |
| Brussels | 0.12 | 0.07 | Vienna | 0.09 | 0.12 |
| Amsterdam | 0.26 | 0.28 | Rome | 0.06 | 0.06 |
| Copenhagen | 0.35 | 0.22 | New York | 0.15 | 0.10 |
| Stockholm | 0.19 | 0.22 | |||
| 1 See footnote (1) page 9. 2 See footnote (3) page 9. | |||||
1 See footnote (1) page 9. 2 See footnote (3) page 9.