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 1908
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
This page requires JavaScript
23
The following table shows that the London smallpox death-rate was in the decennium 18981907
higher than that of any of the under-mentioned foreign towns except Paris, Brussels, and
St. Petersburg. In 1908 St. Petersburg was the only town which had an appreciable death-rate from
smallpox:—
Smallpox-Death-rates per 1,000 persons living.
| Town. | 1898-1907. | 1908. | Town. | 1898-1907. | 1908. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 0.031 | - | St. Petersburg | 0.07 | 0.15 |
| Paris | 0.04 | 0.00 | Berlin | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Brussels | 0.3 | - | Vienna | 0.00 | - |
| Amsterdam | 0.00 | - | Rome | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Copenhagen | - | - | New York | 0.02 | 0.00 |
| Stockholm | 0.00 | - |
In this table 0.00 indicates that the deaths were too few to give a rate of 0.005; where no death occurred — is
inserted.
London vaccination returns.
The following table shows the proportion of children born in each year who were not finally
accounted for in respect of vaccination. It will be observed that this number has, since 1898, been
gradually decreasing:—
Vaccination.
| Year | Children not finally accounted for (including cases postponed) per cent. of total births. | Year. | Children not finally accounted for (including casts postponed) per cent. of total births. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1872 | 8.8 | 1890 | 13.9 |
| 1873 | 8.7 | 1891 | 16.4 |
| 1874 | 8.8 | 1892 | 18.4 |
| 1875 | 9.3 | 1893 | 18.2 |
| 1876 | 6.5 | 1894 | 20.6 |
| 1877 | 7.1 | 1895 | 24.9 |
| 1878 | 7.1 | 1896 | 26.4 |
| 1879 | 7.8 | 1897 | 29.1 |
| 1880 | 7.0 | 1898 | 33.0 |
| 1881 | 5.7 | 1899 | 27.7 |
| 1882 | 6.6 | 1900 | 25.8 |
| 1883 | 6.5 | 1901 | 24.1 |
| 1884 | 6.8 | 1902 | 21.3 |
| 1885 | 7.0 | 1903 | 20.7 |
| 1886 | 7.8 | 1904 | 19.1 |
| 1887 | 9.0 | 1905 | 18.9 |
| 1888 | 10.3 | 1906 | 21.2 |
| 1889 | 11.6 |
The percentage of children born who were exempted by "conscientious objection" certificates
since and including 1898 has been as follows:—1898, 1.4; 1899, 1.0; 1900, 1.0; 1901, 1.1; 1902,
0.8; 1903, 1.0; 1904, 1.1; 1905, 1.2; 1906, 1.5.
During these years, the proportion of children exempted by certificate of conscientious objection,
together with the proportion of children not finally accounted for in the several Unions, has been as
follows:—
Number of children for whom certificates of conscientious objection were obtained together with the number of children not finally accounted for (including cases postponed) per cent. of births.
| Metropolitan Union. | 1898. | 1899. | 1900. | 1901. | 1902. | 1903. | 1904. | 1905. | 1906. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethnal-green | 67.0 | 48.2 | 49.2 | 52.2 | 44.1 | 44.9 | 42.8 | 42.0 | 48.3 |
| Camberwell | 41.2 | 29.7 | 23.0 | 20.0 | 21.4 | 21.8 | 23.6 | 23.4 | 26.8 |
| Chelsea | 17.3 | 14.9 | 16.0 | 13.4 | 14.9 | 13.9 | 10.0 | 8.9 | 13.0 |
| Fulham | 15.4 | 12.6 | 13.7 | 12.0 | 11.8 | 12.7 | 11.5 | 10.8 | 14.6 |
| St. George, Hanover-square | 11.1 | 9.0 | 7.1 | 5.8 | 7.5 | 5.1 | 4.9 | 4.4 | 4.3 |
| St. George-in-the-East | 34.6 | 35.0 | 33.5 | 30.6 | 29.7 | 27.7 | 15.7 | 17.3 | 16.8 |
| St. Giles and St. George | 32.5 | 33.0 | 33.6 | 30.7 | 27.1 | 24.9 | 17.9 | 20.4 | 20.8 |
| Greenwich | 17.21 | 14.2 | 13.8 | 12.6 | 11.1 | 11.1 | 10.4 | 9.7 | 9.8 |
(Continued on next page).
(1) See footnote (1), page 8.
21322
D 2