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 1906

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch]

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Table: Subjoined is a list of the infectious diseases which are notifiable to the Medical Officer of Health, showing the numbers of cases certified in the Borough for each of the four quarters of the year, and the numbers and percentages of such cases which were removed to hospital for treatment:—

Subjoined is a list of the infectious diseases which are notifiable to the Medical Officer of Health, showing the numbers of cases certified in the Borough for each of the four quarters of the year, and the numbers and percentages of such cases which were removed to hospital for treatment:—

DiseaseFirst Quarter.Second Quarter.Third Quarter.Fourth Quarter.Total.Deaths.
Small Pox..................
Scarlet Fever or Scarlatina7313622419362920
Diphtheria & Membranous Croup4027343213314
Typhus Fever..................
Cholera..................
Enteric (Typhoid) Fever78816394
Continued Fever..................
Relapsing Fever..................
Puerperal Fever...23163
Erysipelas212443561442
Totals14419731229895143
Numbers and percentages of cases removed to hospitals121165263232781
84%84%84%80%82%

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As compared with the figures for 1905, there were marked decreases in the numbers
of cases of scarlet fever and diphtheria. The deaths from notifiable infectious
disease are the fewest so far recorded for any year. The deaths from the principal zymotic
diseases which are notifiable, namely, small-pox, scarlet fever, diphtheria, and enteric
fever, were at the rate of 0.3 per 1,000 population, as compared with a rate of 2.8 for
the principal zymotic diseases which are not notifiable, namely, measles, whooping
cough, and diarrhœa.
METROPOLITAN ASYLUMS BOARD.
Most of the cases of infectious disease removed to hospital were taken to the hospitals
of the Metropolitan Asylums Board. The infectious diseases cases of which are
receivable into the Board's hospitals are small-pox, scarlet fever, diphtheria, and enteric
fever. The number of cases of these diseases certified was 801, the number removed
to hospital 769, giving a percentage of 96, which is the highest recorded for any given
year in Shoreditch. The figures for previous years are contained in the last Annual
Report.