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
Kensington 1885
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington]
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These and like circumstances must he kept in view if we
would draw sound conclusions from a high or a low rate of
prevalence of diseases, particularly in relation to the sanitary
condition of a district.
Subject to corrections for local circumstances, for climatic
influences, and for high rates in previous years, the concurrence
of a low zymotic death rate and of a low general death rate
furnishes just ground for satisfaction; and as the general rate and
the zymotic rate were both below the average in Kensington in
1885, we are entitled to the enjoyment of that satisfaction. It
need hardly be said that a persistently high rate of mortality from
zymotic diseases furnishes matter for serious consideration.
Kensington, as we shall see, has hitherto been fortunate in having
a death rate from these diseases much below that of the
Metropolis generally.
The subjoined Table sets out necessary particulars of the mortality from the principal zymotic diseases in 1885, together with the decennial average, etc.:—
| Disease. | Sub Districts. | In Hospitals. | Total. | Decennial Average. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Town. | Brompton. | Town. | Brompton. | Uncorrected. | Corrected for Increase of fPopulation. | ||
| Small-pox | 2 | 1 | 12 | 10 | 25 | 23.3 | 25.4 |
| Measles | 100 | 8 | 3 | — | 111 | 60.8 | 66.4 |
| Scarlet Fever | 3 | 2 | 2 | — | 7 | 55.2 | 60.2 |
| Diphtheria | 13 | 4 | 5 | — | 22 | 19.2 | 20.9 |
| Whooping Cough | 85 | 12 | 1 | — | 98 | 96.7 | 105.6 |
| Typhus Fever | — | - | — | — | — | 2.0 | 2.1 |
| Enteric Fever | 8 | 1 | 3 | — | 12 | 23.5 | 25.6 |
| Simple Continued Fever | 5.2 | 5.6 | |||||
| Diarrhœa | 78 | 7 | — | 1 | 86 | 106.4 | 116.6 |
| 289 | 35 | 26 | 11 | 361 | 392.3 | 428.4 | |
From the above Table we learn that the deaths from the
"seven principal diseases of the zymotic class," which were 57
more than in 1884, were 67 below the corrected decennial
average. As usual, the deaths in the Brompton sub-district (46)
were fewer in proportion to population than in the Town subdistrict.
These deaths were equal to 130 per 1,000 deaths from all
causes in Kensington, (Metropolis, 140), and to a rate of 2.l
per 1,000 persons living, (Metropolis, 2.7); the decennial average
being 2.4 in Kensington, and 3.4 in London. In England and