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
Edmonton 1912
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Edmonton]
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TABLE XLVIII.
| Mother— | Total | Mother— | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not had Scarlet Fever. | Had Scarlet Fever. | Not had Scarlet Fever. | Had Scarlet Fever. | ||||
| Sons— | Daughter— | ||||||
| Not had Scarlet Fever | 347 | 125 | 472 | Not had Scarlet Fever | 267 | 88 | 355 |
| Had Scarlet Fever | 41 | 32 | 73 | Had Scarlet Fever | 40 | 28 | 68 |
| Total | 388 | 157 | 545 | Total | 307 | 116 | 423 |
Taking the boys first, 28.8 per cent, of the parents and 13.4 per
cent, of the children had had scarlet fever. On the basis of no correlation,
we should expect a history of scarlet fever in both mother and son in 21
cases, instead of the 32 that we find. The percentage of girls who had
had scarlet fever was 16.0, and that of the mothers who had had scarlet
fever was 27.4. On the basis of no correlation we should expect in the
423 cases a history of scarlet fever in both mother and daughter in 19
cases, instead of the 28 that we have.
The correlation between scarlet fever in mother and child was
found to be, both for boys and girls, .25. The tendency, therefore, is
for the predisposition to scarlet fever to be inherited.