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 1909
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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| Age-period. | Males. | Females. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notified Cases. | Deaths. | Case mortality per cent. | Bates per 100,000 living. | Notified Cases. | Deaths. | Case mortality per cent. | Bates per 100,000 living. | |||
| Cases. | Deaths. | Cases. | Deaths. | |||||||
| All Ages | 3,110 | 313 | 10.1 | 137 | 14 | 3,569 | 314 | 88 | 140 | 12 |
| 0— | 124 | 34 | 27.4 | 212 | 58 | 99 | 26 | 26.3 | 170 | 45 |
| 1— | 259 | 72 | 27.8 | 500 | 139 | 212 | 55 | 25.9 | 409 | 106 |
| 2— | 341 | 55 | 16.1 | 652 | 105 | 282 | 45 | 16.0 | 541 | 86 |
| 3— | 390 | 40 | 11.8 | 765 | 90 | 367 | 44 | 12.0 | 712 | 85 |
| 4— | 361 | 30 | 8.3 | 724 | 60 | 369 | 39 | 10.6 | 743 | 79 |
| 5— | 1,004 | 71 | 7.1 | 429 | 30 | 1,249 | 89 | 7.1 | 529 | 38 |
| 10— | 304 | 1 | 0.3 | 138 | 0 | 417 | 10 | 2.4 | 185 | 4 |
| 15— | 125 | 2 | 1.6 | 56 | 1 | 161 | 1 | 0.6 | 65 | 0 |
| 20— | 75 | — | — | 32 | — | 141 | 1 | 0.7 | 51 | 0 |
| 25— | 78 | 1 | 1.3 | 20 | 0 | 187 | 1 | 0.5 | 40 | 0 |
| 35— | 32 | — | — | 11 | — | 55 | 1 | 1.8 | 17 | 0 |
| 45— | 13 | 1 | 7.7 | 6 | 0 | 20 | — | — | 9 | — |
| 55 & upwards | 4 | — | — | 2 | — | 10 | 2 | 20-0 | 4 | 1 |
Diphtheria and Elementary Schools.
In connection with the question of the reduction in the prevalence of the disease
among persons of school age during the summer holiday when the schools are closed it has
been thought well to include, as in previous reports, the following table. The summer holiday
of the schools of the London County Council began on Thursday, the 22nd July, i.e., the
latter part of the 29th week, and the schools re-opened on Monday, the 23rd August, i.e., at
the beginning of the 34th week. If the number of cases in the four weeks preceding and the
four weeks subsequent to the weeks most subject to holiday influence be compared, the following
results are obtained for the age periods of 0—3, 3—13, and 13 years and upwards.
| Period. | 0—3. | 3—13. | 13 and upwards. | 0—3. | 3—13. | 13 and upwards. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 92 | 333 | 89 | — | — | — | |
| 69 | 211 | 71 | —25.0 | -36.6 | —20-2 | |
| 78 | 339 | 89 | + 13.0 | + 60.7 | + 25.4 |
The distribution of cases of diphtheria in houses is shown in the reports relating to Paddington,
Fulham and Westminster, thus :—
| Sanitary area. | Number of houses in which one or more cases occurred. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One case. | Two cases. | Three cases. | Four cases. | Five cases. | Six cases. | |
| Paddington | 131 | 7 | 1 | — | — | — |
| Fulham | 232 | 27 | 6 | 3 | — | 1 |
| Westminster | 186 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — |
Thus of 610 houses invaded, multiple cases occurred in 61.
The reports relating to Finsbury, Woolwich and Stoke Newington show the probable source of
infection of those cases for which explanation could be found. In Finsbury, of 152 cases occurring in
the district, in 12 instances infection appeared to be due to previous cases occurring in other members
1 See footnotes (2), page 6, and (2) page 38.