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
Whitechapel 1859
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Whitechapel]
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TABLE XII.—Summary of the various causes of death in the Whitechapel District, for the year ending 31st December, 1859.
| 1.Zymotic | April. | July. | Oct. | Decr. | Total, | 1858. | Remarks. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 102 | 89 | 224 | 133 | 548 | 572 | The deaths from consumption are included in the tubercular class. In the first quarter of the year, they were 65, in the second 68, in the third 76, and in the fourth 64, making a total of 273. During the previous year, the deaths from consumption were 252. | ||||||||
| 2. Dropsy, &c | 26 | 14 | 17 | 26 | 83 | 69 | ||||||||
| 3. Tubercular | 87 | 98 | 127 | 86 | 398 | 403 | ||||||||
| 4. Brain and Nerves | 67 | 73 | 56 | 57 | 253 | 225 | ||||||||
| 5. Heart & Blood Vessels | 26 | 21 | 20 | 28 | 95 | 68 | ||||||||
| 6. Organs of Respiration | 140 | 62 | 44 | 131 | 377 | 484 | ||||||||
| 7. Organs of Digestion | 29 | 24 | 30 | 28 | 111 | 121 | ||||||||
| 8. Kidney, &c. | 18 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 37 | 35 | ||||||||
| 9. Childbirth, &c. | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 9 | ||||||||
| 10. Joints, Bones, &c | 7 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 9 | ||||||||
| 11. Cellular Tissue, &c | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | * The deaths from intemperance recorded in these columns give but a very imperfect idea of the number of persons who fall victims to this vice. All cases of delirum tremens, many cases of dropsy, and of renal dis-ease, and numerous cases of violent death, are the result of intemperance. | |||||||
| 12. Malformations | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||||||||
| 13. Premature Birth, &c. | 19 | 13 | 30 | 16 | 78 | 60 | ||||||||
| 14. Atrophy | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 4 | ||||||||
| 15. Old Age | 31 | 31 | 29 | 28 | 119 | 112 | ||||||||
| 16. Violent Death | 43 | 37 | 29 | 44 | 153 | 169 | ||||||||
| *17. Intemperance | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | — | ||||||||
| 18. Not Specified | 7 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 21 | 67 | ||||||||
| Totals | 611 | 488 | 624 | 598 | 2321 | 2444 | ||||||||
| Of the 548 Deaths from Zymotic Diseases, 93 were cases of Fever, and 141 of Diarrhœa; and out of the total Deaths there died in the year— | ||||||||||||||
| 0 and under 1. | 1 and under 5 | 5 and under 20. | 20 and under 40. | 40 and under 60 | 60 and under 80. | 80 and upwards. | Total. | Non-1 residents. | ||||||
| 1859 | 513 | 478 | 201 | 319 | 411 | 334 | 65 | 2321 | 189 | |||||
| 1858 | 563 | 591 | 188 | 317 | 402 | 300 | 83 | 2444 | 216 | |||||
| 1857 | 523 | 509 | 153 | 350 | 434 | 328 | 53 | 2350 | 299 | |||||
* All the deaths in the London Hospital, which are the result of violence, are placed to
the account of the mortality of the district; but as no account of the deaths of the parishioners
who die in the several charitable institutions in the metropolis is obtained, the defect in the
record of the one will compensate for the excess in the other.