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 1941
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch]
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GENERAL DATA
| Area of Borough | 662 acres | |||
| Average height above sea-level | 60 feet | |||
| Estimated number of houses (including separately-rated flats) | 10,190 | |||
| Number of families (1931 census) | 25,156 | |||
| Rateable value | £700,000 | |||
| Sum represented by a penny rate | £2,333 | |||
| SHOREDITCH | LONDON | |||
| Average | 1 Average | |||
| 1941 | 1931-1940 | 1941 | 1931-1940 | |
| Birth rate (rate per 1,000 living) | 17.44 | 15.62 | Not available. | 13.74 |
| Still births (rate per 1,000 total births) | 29.92 | 32.79 | 32.28 | |
| Death rate (deaths per 1,000 living) | 24.17 | 13.49 | 12.71 | |
| Marriage rate (persons married per 1,000 living) | 35.31 | 22.19 | 21.52 | |
| Infantile mortality rate— (deaths under 1 year per 1,000 births) | 63 | 66 | 59 | |
| Maternal mortality rate (deaths per 1,000 live births) | 1.96 | 2.19 | 2.47 | |
| Death rate from pneumonia and bronchitis | 3.60 | 1.76 | —† | |
| „ „ „ cancer | 2.07 | 1.65 | 1.75 | |
| „ „ „ diarrhoea and enteritis (under 2 years) per 1,000 births | 18.93 | 14.83 | 11.24 | |
| „ „ „ pulmonary tuberculosis | 1.98 | 1.01 | 0.75 | |
| Notifications of tuberculosis (per 1,000 population) | 3.03 | 1.65 | 1.59 | |
† Figures not available.
PUBLIC HEALTH STATISTICAL INFORMATION
VITAL STATISTICS
| Population, estimated at midsummer, 1941 | 36,360 | ||
| Number of births registered | 634 | Birth rate (per 1,000 population) | 17.44 |
| „ „ still births registered | 19 | Still birth rate (per 1,000 live births) | 29.92 |
| „ „ infant deaths registered ... | 32 | Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 births)† | 63 |
| „ „ deaths registered ... | 879* | Death rate (per 1,000 population) | 24.17 |
| „ „ maternal deaths registered | 1 | Maternal mortality rate (per 1,000 live births) † | 1.96 |
* Includes 203 due to "other violent causes."
† Calculated on 509 live births—see paragraph 3 on page 2.
INFECTIOUS DISEASE
| (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infectious Diseases | Cases notified | Removed to hospital | Deaths registered | Infectious Diseases | Cases notified | Removed to hospital | Deaths registered |
| Scarlet fever | 65 | 64 | — | Measles | 254 | 178 | |
| Diphtheria, membranous croup | 61 | 61 | 1 | Whooping cough | 243 | 136 | |
| Enteric (including paratyphoid) | 4 | 4 | Ophthalmia neonatorum | 4 | 1 | — | |
| Acute primary or influenzal pneumonia......... | 36 | 12 | Puerperal fever | — | — | 1 | |
| Puerperal pyrexia | 4 | 4 | — | ||||
| Erysipelas ......... | 19 | — | Cerebro spinal fever | 19 | |||
| Acute poliomyelitis ...... | — | — | — | ||||
| Dysentery ......... | 12 | 11 | — | ||||
| Tuberculosis—pulmonary | 97 | — | 72 | ||||
| ,, other forms ... | 13 | — | 7 |