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 1933
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch]
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38
Anthrax.
There were no cases certified during the year.
Infectious Diseases not notifiable in Shoreditch.
Measles.
The deaths from Measles numbered 7 and occurred in the following age
groups:—
Under 1 year 1
One to 2 years 4
Two to 5 years 2
7
Measles was responsible for 4.3 per cent of all deaths of children under
5 years of age.
As will be seen from the following table, measles is a disease which tends to become widespread every few years, for the reason that after a bad measles year a large number of children are protected by the fact that they have had the disease.
| Deaths | Death rate per 1,000 population | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Shoreditch | London | Shoreditch | London |
| 1929 | 17 | 194 | 0.17 | 0.04 |
| 1930 | 49 | 1,035 | 0.50 | 0.23 |
| 1931 | 26 | 115 | 0.26 | 0.03 |
| 1932 | 60 | 824 | 0.63 | 0.19 |
| 1933 | 7 | 101 | 0.07 | 0.02 |
The distribution of the deaths in the different wards was as shown on
the table on pages 18 and 19.
Information regarding cases of measles reaches the Public Health
Department in various ways:—From the School Authorities, from the
Measles Visitor, from the Health Visitor, and from Medical Practitioners in
the Borough. The number of cases thus brought to our knowledge was
526.
Upon the recommendation of the Medical Officer of Health, the London
County Council will take severe cases, or cases in which home nursing is
specially difficult. During the year the number of cases removed to the
hospitals of the Council was 263.