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
Shoreditch 1858
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch]
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The following Table gives at one view the progress of the six principal Zymotic diseases during the period under examination:
| SmallPox | Measles. | Scarlatina | Hooping Cough. | Diarrhœa | Fever. | Total. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Quarter, 1855 | 9 | 9 | 34 | 38 | 13 | 39 | 142 |
| 1st Ditto 1856 | 5 | 12 | 18 | 39 | 3 | 59 | 136 |
| 1st Ditto 1857 | 2 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 12 | 37 | 111 |
| 1st Ditto 1858 | 1 | 30 | 20 | 35 | 8 | 20 | 113 |
The decrease in the number of Fever-deaths in
1858 as compared with 1855, 1857 and 1856, is marked.
In 1858 the Fever-deaths stand as 1 to 3 in 1856, and
as little more than 1 to 2 in 1857. Comparing the mortality
from all the six zymotic diseases, we find the number
considerably less in 1857 than in 1856 and 1855; and
that this diminution has been sustained in 1858. We
have further to take into consideration the continual
increase of population. The falling rate of mortality
has actually taken place in an increased population.
From the 1st January, 1857, to the 1st January, 1858,
the increase in population cannot be estimated at less
than 4000 persons. The excess of 105 deaths on the
gross mortality in the first quarter in this year over the
corresponding quarter of last year, must therefore be
distributed over a population of 130,000 instead of one
of 126,000. Thus assuming that the same rate of mortality
which ruled in the Spring-quarter of each of the