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
Wimbledon 1948
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Wimbledon]
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| Live births. | Still-births. | |
|---|---|---|
| Domiciliary confinements | 117 | 1 |
| Institutional confinements: — | ||
| Kingston County Hospital | 12 | — |
| St. Helier County Hospital | 95 | 2 |
| St. Lukes County Hospital | 10 | — |
| Epsom County Hospital | 9 | — |
| Nelson Hospital | 176 | 2 |
| Queen Charlotte's Hospital | 8 | — |
| Other hospitals and nursing homes outside the Borough | 49 | 3 |
| Wimbledon Nursing Homes | 43 | — |
| 519 | 8 | |
DEATHS.
The total number of Wimbledon residents who died during
1948 was 670. Of these deaths 236 occurred outside the Borough.
Apart from these figures 241 persons not normally resident in
Wimbledon died in institutions, etc., in the Borough.
The death-rate for 1948 is 11.56 per thousand of the population
as compared with a rate of 13.64 per thousand during 1947.
As in previous years the following diseases were responsible for over half the total deaths: —
| Percentage of total deaths | |
|---|---|
| Diseases of the heart and circulatory system | 37% |
| Cancer | 18% |
| Diseases of the respiratory system | 13% |
| Total 68% |
There were 4 deaths from infectious diseases during 1948, all
of them occurring in hospitals. Two children aged 2 years died
from cerebro-spinal fever, and another child. also aged 2 years,
died from whooping-cough and pneumonia. The remaining death
from an infectious disease was that of a woman aged 35 years who
died in an orthopaedic hospital where she was undergoing treatment
for poliomyelitis which she contracted during the epidemic which
occurred in 1947.
The following is an analysis of the causes of death: —
| Cause | Males | Females | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Typhoid and Paratyphoid Fevers | — | — | — |
| 2. Cerebro-spinal Fever | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 3. Scarlet Fever | — | — | — |
| 4. Whooping Cough | — | 1 | 1 |
| 5. Diphtheria | — | — | — |
| 6. Tuberculosis of Respiratory System | 27 | 9 | 36 |
| 7. Other forms of Tuberculosis | 1 | — | 1 |
| 8. Syphilitic Diseases | — | 1 | 1 |
| 9. Influenza | — | — | — |
| 10. Measles | — | — | — |
| 11. Acute Poliomyelitis and Polioencephalitis | — | 1 | 1 |
| 12. Acute Infectious Encephalitis | — | — | — |