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 1910
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch]
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15.7 in 1909, 9.5 in 1908, 15.6 in 1907, 16 in 1906, 14.7 in 1905, 16.3 in 1904, 23.8
in 1903, 20.5 in 1902, 15.4 in 1901, 22.7 in 1900, 34.2 in 1899, 29.5 in 1898, 36.0 in
1897, 31.8 in 1896, 47.5 in 1895, 43.0 in 1894, and 61.0 in 1893. None of the cases
amongst persons over five years of age terminated fatally.
The usual enquiries were made as to the circumstances attending the occurrence
of diphtheria in the Borough. With respect to 120 of the cases certified during the
year, they were distributed amongst males and females at certain age periods as set
With respectto 120 of the cases certified during the year, they were distributed amongst males and females at certain age periods as set out in the subjonied tables:—
| Age Period. | Male. | Female. | Total. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1 year | 6 | ||
| From 1 to 2 years 0 | |||
| 28 | |||
| Over 13 years | 8 | ||
| Totals |
In 47 of the cases the patients were children attending school, and in 31 of these
they were at school within a week of being certified as having the disease. As noted
in previous years, there were instances in which the children were at school whilst
suffering from diphtheria before the nature of their illness was recognised. In
66 other cases, although the patients themselves were not school-going children,
there were other children in the houses who were. In 17 instances the histories
showed that there had been cases of " sore throat " amongst the inmates of the houses
in which the patients resided. In 22 instances there was evidence pointing to infection
from previous cases in the Borough. In 90 instances the houses were occupied
by members of more than one family, in 18 by single families, and in 12 instances
the cases occurred in artisan's dwellings of the block type. With regard to the
sanitary condition of the dwellings, in 69 this was satisfactory, in 25 fairly so, and
in 26 it was unsatisfactory, but these figures must not be taken as an indication
that a satisfactory sanitary condition is favourable to the occurrence of diphtheria
in houses. Similar proportions have been obtained in inspecting houses in which
no diphtheria cases were notified.
The cases certified as diphtheria in London numbered 5,508 as compared with
6,783 in 1909, 7,840 in 1908, and 8,585 in 1907, the attack rates being 1.1, 1.4, 1.6
and 1.8 per 1,000 population for the four years respectively. The deaths in London
numbered 434 as compared with 605 in 1909, 724 in 1908 and 787 in 1907, the death-
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