London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Merton and Morden 1937
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Merton & Morden]
This page requires JavaScript
TABLE XXX.
INCIDENCE AND FATALITY OF DIPHTHERIA, 1919-1937.
| Year. | Population. | No. of cases. | Incidence rate per 1,000 population. | No. of deaths. | Percentage of deaths to cases. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1919 | 18,100 | 26 | 1.3 | 2 | 7.6% |
| 1920 | 18,200 | 47 | 2.5 | 3 | 6 3% |
| 1921 | 18,000 | 28 | 1.5 | 1 | 3.5% |
| 1922 | 18,500 | 62 | 3.3 | 4 | 6.4% |
| 1923 | 18,750 | 39 | 2.08 | 1 | 2.5% |
| 1924 | 18,710 | 68 | 3.6 | 6 | 8.9% |
| 1925 | 18,960 | 25 | 1.3 | 1 | 8.3% |
| 1926 | 19,980 | 24 | 1.2 | 2 | 8.5% |
| 1927 | 21,850 | 29 | 1.3 | 2 | 6.8% |
| 1928 | 25,780 | 38 | 1.4 | — | - |
| 1929 | 27,430 | 53 | 1.9 | 1 | 1.8% |
| 1930 | 35,000 | 72 | 2.05 | 6 | 8.3% |
| 1931 | 41,610 | 80 | 1.9 | 6 | |
| 1932 | 48,550 | 30 | 0.6 | — | - |
| 1933 | 52,130 | 35 | 0.6 | 1 | 2.8% |
| 1934 | 55,550 | 82 | 1.4 | 8 | 9.7% |
| 1935 | 57,440 | 44 | 0.76 | 4 | 9.0% |
| 1936 | 61,000 | 28 | 0.45 | - | - |
| 1937 | 65,530 | 22 | 0.33 | 4 | 18.1% |
Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis. Two eases were notified—
one a male infant of 13 months was admitted to hospital as a
moderately severe type, and responded extremely well to
serum treatment. It was discharged as recovered after 17
days. The other, a woman of 56 years, was admitted to isolation
hospital but succumbed to the infection.
Anterior Poliomyelitis. One case of a boy of 10 years
was notified to be suffering from infantile paralysis. He was
an in-patient for three months in a London Hospital and is
now receiving out-patient treatment. Originally affected
with paralysis of the right leg, there now remains some paresis
of the foot,
Measles. The biennial wave of measles did not coincide
with 1937, and a total of 86 cases in school children were
reported by the head teachers compared with 586 in the year
before.
Three cases were admitted to isolation hospital. There
were no deaths.
Whooping Cough. Whooping cough according to the
school returns was slightly less prevalent. Eighty-one cases
were reported among school children against 107 in the year
before.
+