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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| Cause | Males | Females | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13.M.Cancer of Buccal Cavity and Oesophagus (males only) | 6 | — | 6 |
| 13. F. Cancer of Uterus (females only) | — | 2 | 2 |
| 14. Cancer of Stomach and Duodenum | 8 | 13 | 21 |
| 15. Cancer of Breast | — | 15 | 15 |
| 16. Cancer of all other sites | 36 | 39 | 75 |
| 17. Diabetes | — | 3 | 3 |
| 18. Intra-Cranial Vascular Lesions | 31 | 50 | 81 |
| 19. Heart Disease | 105 | 116 | 221 |
| 20. Other Diseases of the Circulatory System | 14 | 11 | 25 |
| 21. Bronchitis | 24 | 8 | 32 |
| 22. Pneumonia | 10 | 5 | 15 |
| 23. Other Respiratory Diseases | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 24. Ulcer of the Stomach or Duodenum | 7 | 2 | 9 |
| 25. Diarrhoea (under 2 years of age) | — | — | — |
| 26. Appendicitis | — | — | — |
| 27. Other Digestive Diseases | 5 | 8 | 13 |
| 28. Nephritis | 8 | 4 | 12 |
| 29. Puerperal and Post-Abortive Sepsis | — | — | — |
| 30. Other Maternal causes | — | 1 | 1 |
| 31. Premature Birth | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 32. Congenital Malformations, Birth Injury, Infantile Diseases | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| 33. Suicide | 8 | 1 | 9 |
| 34. Road Traffic Accidents | — | 2 | 2 |
| 35. Other violent causes | 10 | 6 | 16 |
| 36. All other causes | 21 | 25 | 46 |
| Totals | 334 | 336 | 670 |
INFANTILE MORTALITY.
During 1948, 18 deaths occurred in infants under one year of age,
giving an infantile mortality rate for Wimbledon of 19 per thousand
live births, as compared with a rate of 34 for England and Wales.
Eight of the 18 deaths of children under one year of age were
due to prematurity. All these eight deaths occurred during the first or
second week of life. A further 4 deaths were attributable to
congenital defects, and one to birth injury.
The following table shows the causes of. and ages at death,
together with the ward distribution. From this table it will be
seen that 14 of the infant deaths were neo-natal deaths, i.e. occurring
during the first month of life. This gives a neo-natal death-rate of
14.8 per thousand live births.
There were, therefore, during 1948, only 4 deaths of children
between the ages of one month and a year. Three of these were
caused by the inhalation of stomach contents into the air-passage,
and were thus probably all preventable.
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