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 1911
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
31
Whooping-cough death-rates in London in each of the four quarters of the year 1911 were as follows:
Ifirst quarter, 0.38; second quarter, 0.32; third quarter, 0.15; and the fourth quarter, 0.08.
The following table shows that when the London sanitary district are grouped according to the social condition of the population, the incidence of whooping-cough mortality progressively increases from the highest to the lowest social group.(a)
| Number of group of boroughs in order of "social condition." | "Whooping-cough death-rate at ages 0.5 per 1,000 living, | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1901-10.(b) | 1911. (c) | ||
| I. | 2.09 | 0.87 | |
| II. | 2.76 | 2.57 | |
| III. | 2.77 | 2.15 | |
| IV. | 3.19 | 1.95 | |
| V. | 3.29 | 2.07 | |
Whooping
cough
mortality in
relation to
" social
condition,"
1901-10 and
1911.
Information which medical officers of health obtain concerning the occurrence of attacks of whooping-cough is derived, in the main, from school teachers. The number of cases reported, so far as stated in the annual reports, was as follows:-
| Metropolitan borough. | Number of cases. | Metropolitan borough. | Number of cases. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paddington | 632 | Finsbury | 119 |
| Kensington | 255 | Shoreditch | 165 |
| Hammersmith | 250 | Southwark | 361 |
| Chelsea | 63 | Bermondsey | 317 |
| Westminster, City of | 279 | Lambeth | 639 |
| St. Marylebone | 177 | Battersea | 51 |
| St. Pancras | 377 | Wandsworth | 565 |
| Islington | 533 | Lewisham | 208 |
| Hackney | 374 | Woolwich | 41 |
In most of the reports of medical officers of health there is little reference to whooping-cough.
I In the report relating to Paddington mention is made of undue prevalence during the past three years.
4 344 houses were invaded in 1911, and of these, 177 houses had more than one case each. In the
Kensington report it is stated that of 255 cases into which inquiry was made only 65 had received
medical treatment. There were outbreaks at two schools, one with 35 cases, the other with 28 cases.
The medical officers of health of Westminster and Paddington both comment upon the higher fatality
I as compared with previous years, although in London as a whole there is a decline in the mortality
from whooping-cough. In Wandsworth, 97 per cent, of the deaths occurred amongst children under
5 years of age. It is stated in the Greenwich report that application has been made to the Local
Government Board asking the Board to make whooping-cough a notifiable disease. From the latter
end of 1910 cases of whooping-cough, as well as of measles, were received into the hospitals of the
Metropolitan Asylums Board with apparently satisfactory results.
There was no deaths from typhus registered in the Adminstrative County of London during the year 1911. The deaths-ratesfrom this disease in successive periods have been as follows:-
| Period. | Death-rate per 1,000 persons living. |
|---|---|
| 1871-1880 | .055 |
| 1881-1890 | •008 |
| 1891-1900 | •0016 |
| 1901-1910 | •0006 |
| 1901 | •0016 |
| 1902 | — |
| 1903 | •0016 |
| 1904 | — |
| 1905 | — |
| 1906 | — |
| 1907 | — |
| 1908 | — |
| 1909 | — |
| 1910 | — |
| 1911 | — |
(a) See footnote (a) page 13.
(b) See footnote (c) page 2
(c) See footnote (b) page 11.