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 1908
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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(These figures are corrected for difference in the age and sex constitution of the population, and the number of cases annually has been assumed to be constant.)
Males
| Period. | 0- | 1- | 2- | 3- | 4- | 5- | 10- | 15- | 20- | 25- | 35- | 45- | 55 + |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1893-5 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 1896-1900 | 820 | 948 | 1,084 | 1,091 | 975 | 956 | 1,038 | 1,075 | 1,003 | 1,034 | 1,247 | 1,054 | |
| 1901-5 | 803 | 1,007 | 1,104 | 1,020 | 830 | 874 | 1,061 | 904 | 895 | 812 | 730 | ||
| 1906-8 | 665 | 958 | 980 | 1,072 | 1,149 | 1,076 | 890 | 784 | 908 | 889 | 898 | 351 |
F
| Period. | 0- | 1- | 2- | 3- | 4- | 5- | 10- | 15- | 20- | 25- | 35- | 45- | 55 + |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1893-5 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 1,000 | 1,000 | |
| 1896-1900 | 811 | 908 | 990 | 1,054 | 1,044 | 1,006 | 996 | 1,084 | 999 | 937 | 907 | 673 | |
| 1901-5 | 746 | 943 | 1,069 | 1,134 | 1,145 | 1,038 | 835 | 1,110 | 999 | 761 | 889 | 527 | |
| 1906-8 | 642 | 830 | 971 | 994 | 1,066 | 937 | 780 | 1,084 | 973 | 860 | 741 | 600 | |
Scarlet Fever and Elementary Schools.
\J
In connection with the reduction in the number of notified cases during the summer
holiday of the schools it may be stated that the summer holiday of the London County Council
schools began in 1908 on Thursday, the 23rd July, i.e., the latter part of the 30th week, and the
schools re-opened on Monday, the 24th August, i.e., at the beginning of the 35th week.
If the number of cases notified in the four weeks which would be most subject to holiday influence be compared with the number of cases notified in the four preceding and four subsequent weeks, the results shown in the following table are obtained :—
| Period. | Notified cases—Age-periods. | Increase (+) or decrease (—) per cent. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0-3 | 3-13 | 13 and upwards. | 0-3 | 3-13 | 13 and up- wards. | |
| 1,206 | 230 | — | — | — | ||
| 169 | 1,075 | 214 | +5.0 | -10.9 | -7.0 | |
| 234 | 1,537 | 323 | + 38.5 | + 43.0 | +50.9 | |
In a number of the annual reports reference is made to the maintenance of the prevalence of
scarlet fever through infection derived from mild and unrecognised cases of the disease. In this
connection it is interesting to note that when the figures of the period 1891-1900 are compared with
those of 1908, it is seen that the death-rate in the latter period has declined 40 per cent., and the
fatality rate by 35 per cent., while the case-rate has only declined 6 per cent.
In several of the reports information is given of the number of multiple cases in houses, thus :—
| Paddington. | Fulham. | Westminster. | Holborn. | Battersea. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houses with 2 cases | 57 | 61 | 46 | 12 | 99 | |||
| „ 3 „ | 30 | 14 | 15 | 5 | 50 | |||
| „ 4 „ | 13 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 12 | |||
| „ 5 „ | 5 | 3 | — | — | 4 | |||
| „ 6 „ | 1 | 1 | — | — | 1 | |||
| „ 7 „ | 2 | 1 | — | — | 2 | |||
| „ 8 „ | — | — | — | — | 1 | |||
In these districts 3,251 cases were notified, and of these, 1,145, or 35 per cent., occurred in
association with other cases in the same house. The total number of houses in these districts with
multiple cases was 443, and these houses supplied 702 more cases than they would have done if
the incidence of disease upon them had not been greater than other houses which supplied only one
case. It must not, of course, be assumed that the 702 cases necessarily contracted their disease from
an antecedent case in the same house, but in all probability this occurred in a number of instances.
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