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
St Giles (Camden) 1897
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Giles District]
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the notification of measles as one of the infections diseases,
though many Local Authorities are in favour of it.
Some Medical Officers of Health consider the notification
of Measles undesirable on the ground that it would be
useless, as at the present time the Asylums Board does not
possess the requisite hospital accommodation necessary for
the reception of these patients.
Personally I am not in favour of removal on account of
the majority of the patients being attacked at so early an
age, but I consider notification desirable, as it would enable
the Sanitary Authority to visit, with a view of excluding
children from attendance at public schools from infected
homes.
3.—S carlet Fevkr (decennial average 6.5).
| Year. | No. of Notifications received. | Removals to Hospital. | No. of Deaths in Hospital. | No of Deaths at Home. | Total No. of Deaths. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1897 | 205 | 164 | 6 | 1 | 7 |
The 7 deaths in 1897 (6 children under 5 years of age)
were again slightly above the average.
It will be seen from the above table how largely the
hospitals of the Asylums Board are made use of for the
treatment of this disease.
A breach of Section 70 of the Public Health (London)
Act 1891 having coming to my knowledge in November,
when a child suffering from Scarlet Fever was removed in
a street cab to a railway station and thence by train to a