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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The result of the inquiries made by this Officer has been that 3671 persons
had been vaccinated and 126 not vaccinated. Upon the latter, notices
were served by the Clerk of the Board of Guardians, and their Officer subsequently
reported that 56 of that number had been vaccinated. Of the
remainder some are pending, others have not yet been ascertained, and
several have removed.
The Medical Officers, in the return of their house-to-house visitation,
have reported 204 instances of non-vaccination. As the report was made
direct to Mr. Blackman, the public vaccinator, it is presumed that all these
cases were duly vaccinated by him.
Mr. Blackman has successfully performed in the six weeks ending
March last, 871 primary and 1179 secondary vaccinations, and has unsuccessfully
performed 8 primary and 38 secondary vaccinations.
Tho following table, showing the number of cases of small-pox admitted
into the wards erected in the Stone Yard by the Guardians, has been kindly
prepared for me by Mr. Ilott, the Resident Medical Officer of the Workhouse.
Cases of Small-Pox admitted into the Temporary Wards under the care of Mr. Ilott, the Resident Medical Officer of the Workhouse.
| DATE | Number of Admissions. | DATE. | Number of Admissions. |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 1 | 8 | Feby. 11 | 17 |
| „ 14 | G | ,, 13 | 10 |
| „ 21 | 13 | „ 25 | 16 |
| „ 21 | 9 | March 4 | 20 |
| „ 28 | 6 | „ 11 | 8 |
| Februy. | 21 | „ 18 | 6 |
| „ 25 | 19 |
From the above return it appears that the total number of cases of
small-pox admitted in 13 weeks was 150; of these, 81 were sent to the
Homerton Asylum Board Hospital, and 69 were treated in the wards in the
Stone Yard. Of the 69 patients treated in these wards 13 died; of these, 10
were unvaccinated and 3 vaccinated. Of the 150 cases admitted into the
Small-Pox Ward, the Medical Officer states that 114 had been vaccinated,
and 36 unvaccinated.
According to the report of Dr. Munk and Mr. Marson, the Medical Officers
of the Small-Pox Hospital at Highgate, the present epidemic commenced
in November, 1869, when in that month 51 cases were admitted into the
Hospital as small-pox; in December the number admitted was 52; and in each
succeeding month the cases admitted were respectively 79, 66, 73, 83, 112, 112
113, 89, 108, 144, 159, 178: total in the year 1870, 1,316. Of these, however,
31 were not cases of small-pox, thereby reducing the number of small-pox cases
to 1,285, of these 962, or 74.8 per cent. had been vaccinated, and 322,
or 25.0 per cent. unvaccinated. Of the 962 vaccinated cases 76 died,