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 1871
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Whitechapel]
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1866, is said to bo sufficient for the disinfection of woollens, bedding, or
clothing, if such articles arc exposed for two or more hours in chambers
constructed for the purpose to a temperature of F. 210°—250°. In Dr.
Letheby's Report on the Sanitary Condition of the City of London, and
published in 1860, it is stated that the plan recommended by the Medical
Officers of Health for the Metropolis, after a careful consideration of the
subject, for the disinfection of woollen fabrics is to submit such articles to a
dry heat of 250 degrees Farenheit. Boiling water is supposed to be sufficient
for destroying the contagium in linen articles. A disinfecting apparatus
invented and patented by Messrs. Fraser Brothers, of Bromley, Middlesex,
and recommended to the Board by Dr. Stevens, one of the Medical Officers
of the Privy Council, has recently been erected, and is now in operation.
Any inhabitant of the District can have, free of expense, infected clothing,
&c., disinfected, upon giving information to the Sanitary Officers of the
Board. In the same Report I also drew attention to the several
arrangements made by the Guardians of the Whitechapel Union for arresting
the progress of small-pox; one of which was, that the Medical Officers of
the Union should be requested to fill up a printed form and transmit the
same daily to the Clerk of the Board of Guardians.
The following table shows the results of the information obtained by the Medical Officers during the months of January, February, and March:
| Districts and Medical Officers. | No of Case of Small-Pox reported. | No. of such cases found to have been "Vaccinated. | No. of such cases found not to have been Vaccinated. | No. of members of Families(exclusive of Patient) reportd. | No. of such Members found to have been Vaccinated. | Not Vaccinated. | Had Small-Pox. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Spitalfields, Dr. Swyer | 27 | 12 | 15 | 106 | 102 | 1 | 3 |
| 2. Mile End, Mr. Champneys | Not reported. | ||||||
| 3. Goodmn's Fids, Mr. Sequeira | 30 | 24 | 6 | 136 | 123 | 8 | |
| 4. Whitechapel, Dr. Richardson | 78 | 52 | 26 | 207 | 186 | 14 | 7 |
| 5 Aldgate, Mr. Loane | 29 | 16 | 13 | 26 | 23 | 3 | 0 |
| Total | 164 | 104 | 60 | 475 | 434 | 23 | 18 |
Still further to bring the population under the influence of vaccination,
the Guardians appointed the Medical Officers of the Union to institute
in their respective districts a house-to-house visitation—in addition to the
Officer (who was not a medical practitioner) whom they had appointed when
the small-pox had assumed an epidemic form—for the purpose of making
inquiry respecting the vaccination or otherwise of all persons living in the
vicinity of those cases of small-pox which were under the care of the Medical
Officers of the Union.