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 1927
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
This page requires JavaScript
166
Discarding the doubtful cases (two of them probably instances of sporadic deafbirth),
there remain 143 cases in which the cause of deafness was undoubted or
could reasonably be surmised. It is to be noted that the relation of the congenital
cases to the acquired are 28 and 72 per cent. respectively, showing that superior
methods of investigation have changed the statistics of some half century ago and
fulfilled the prophecy of Mygind that in course of time it would be found that congenital
cases formed less than, instead of more than, half the total number. The
congenital cases were:—
Boys. Girls. Totals. Per cent.
True hereditary deaf-birth 8 6 14 35.0
Sporadic deaf-birth 13 13 26 65.0
21 19 40
Analysis of the acquired cases gives the following results:—
| A.—Meningitis— | Boys. | Girls. | Totals. | Per cent. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Epidemic cerebrospinal | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 2. Influenzal | 1 | — | 1 | |
| 3. Causes not ascertained | 4 | 1 | 5 | 8.8 |
| B.—Infectious diseases— | ||||
| 1. Scarlet fever | 3 | 7 | 10 | |
| 2. Measles | 7 | 4 | 11 | |
| 3. Diphtheria | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 4. Pertussis | 2 | — | 2 | |
| 5. Influenza | — | 1 | 1 | |
| 6. Mumps | 2 | — | 2 | |
| 7. Encephalitis lethargica | — | 1 | 1 | |
| 290 | ||||
| C.—Other infectious diseases— | ||||
| 1. Pneumonia | 2 | — | 2 | |
| 2. Chorea | — | 1 | 1 | |
| 3. Congenital syphilis | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 5.8 | ||||
| D.—Primary middle ear disease— | ||||
| 1. Middle ear catarrh | 11 | 19 | 30 | |
| 2. Middle ear suppuration | 11 | 12 | 23 | |
| 3. Middle ear suppuration, results of | 1 | — | 1 | |
| 52.4 | ||||
| E.—Injuries | 4 | — | 4 | 4.0 |
It may be noted that there are fewer cases this year to be ascribed to nervous
diseases and more in which deafness has been a sequel of infectious disease.
Blind
children.
The following table shows the number of children certified as blind during the decade commencing with 1918:—
| 1918. | 1919. | 1920. | 1921. | 1922. | 1923. | 1924. | 1925. | 1926. | 1927. |
| 69 | 83 | 74 | 89 | 88 | 59 | 84 | 70 | 33 | 35 |
dness has been attributed. The particulars are set out below:—
| (1) Injury or destruction (surface)— | 1922-3. | 1924-5. | 1926-7. |
| (a) Ophthalmia neonatorum | 12 | 20 | 10 |
| (6) Phlyctenular keratitis | 9 | 13 | 8 |
| (2) Inflammation within the eyeball or optic nerve— (a) Interstitial keratitis and iritis | 27 | 25 | 7 |
| (6) Disseminated choroiditis and optic atrophy | 22 | 18 | 12 |
| (c) Injuries | 1 | 4 | — |
| (d) Buphthalmia or congenital glaucoma | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| (e) Macular defects | 2 | 1 | — |
| (f) Congenital nystagmus | 18 | 9 | 6 |
| (g) Double detachment of retina | — | 1 | — |