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
West Ham 1937
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for West Ham]
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Table VII.
Scarlet fever. Return cases, 1937. Monthly incidence.
| Month. | Number of patients discharged. | Return cases to Plaistow Hospital. | Percentage. |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48 | — | — |
| February | 57 | 2 | 3.51 |
| March | 37 | 5 | 13.51 |
| April | 48 | 1 | 2.08 |
| May | 70 | 2 | 2.86 |
| June | 41 | 2 | 4.88 |
| July | 70 | 1 | i-43 |
| August | 65 | - | - |
| September | 70 | 4 | 5.71 |
| October | 128 | 6 | 4.69 |
| November | 56 | — | — |
| December | 87 | 5 | 5.75 |
| Whole year | 777 | 28 | 3.60 |
Diphtheria. The number of notified cases which were
admitted during the year was 606. The diagnosis was amended
after admission in 127 of these cases, or 20.96 per cent, of the
admissions. The number of accepted cases was therefore 479.
At the beginning of the year 82 patients were in residence,
and the total number under treatment was 561. Of these 454 were
discharged, 14 died, and 93 remained under treatment at the end
of the year. The average duration of residence was 59.54 days.
Age incidence. The age incidence of the 479 accepted cases
of diphtheria is shown in Table VIII.
Corrected diagnosis. The 127 cases which proved to be
wrongly diagnosed were found after admission to be suffering from
the following complaints:—Tonsillitis, 84; laryngitis, 15;
pharyngitis, 5; Vincent's angina, 6; scarlet fever, 3; measles, 2;
stomatitis, 2 ; no apparent disease, 2 ; rhinitis, 3; gastro-enteritis,
1; tuberculous meningitis, 1 ; catarrhal jaundice, 1; otitis media,
1; asthma, 1.
The patients who were discharged or who died during the
year are classified in Table IX.
161