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 1881
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Whitechapel]
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the freezing point of water. The lowest mean temperature during
any week in the Quarter was in that which ended November 4th,
when it was 31°.2.
Table of Weekly Mortality, &c., in London and in the
Whiteciiapel District.
The following Table, taken from the Returns of the Registrar-General, shows the comparative results of the Quarter:—
| Week ended. | Deaths in London. | Deaths in Wchl. District | Rainfall. Inches. | Mean Temperature of the air. Degrees | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diarrhœa. | Fever. | Small-pox. | From all causes. | From Smallpox. | From all causes. | ||||
| Oct. | 9 | 64 | 25 | 5 | 1398 | 0 | 42 | 3.07 | 50.5 |
| „ | 16 | 66 | 27 | 6 | 1405 | 0 | 40 | 1.30 | 48.0 |
| „ | 23 | 59 | 24 | 7 | 1518 | 0 | 33 | 1.35 | 42.9 |
| „ | 30 | 28 | 21 | 2 | 1521 | 0 | 36 | 1.72 | 42.0 |
| Nov. | 6 | 35 | 22 | 7 | 1513 | 0 | 33 | 0.00 | 39.3 |
| „ | 13 | 21 | 22 | 17 | 1636 | 0 | 29 | 0.24 | 46.3 |
| „ | 20 | 22 | 17 | 10 | 1489 | 0 | 39 | 1.38 | 40.8 |
| „ | 27 | 18 | 15 | 19 | 1521 | 0 | 42 | 0.46 | 42.1 |
| Dec. | 4 | 9 | 17 | 10 | 1446 | 0 | 39 | 0.04 | 44.1 |
| „ | 11 | 16 | 9 | 12 | 1398 | 0 | 34 | 0.00 | 47.7 |
| „ | 18 | 10 | 9 | 23 | 1377 | 0 | 36 | 0.76 | 43.3 |
| „ | 25 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 1242 | 0 | 46 | 1.26 | 40.6 |
| Jan. | 1 | 15 | 14 | 17 | 1648 | 1 | 53 | 0.96 | 40.6 |
It will be seen from the above Table that the deaths from
diarrhoea in London have been during the Quarter 378. In the
Whitechapel District, as will be seen from the subjoined Tables,
diarrhœa has been much more prevalent during the year than in the
preceding one. This is especially noticeable as regards children
under one year of age.
The great increase in the number of cases of diarrhœa occurring
in the third quarter of the year caused me some little feeling of
anxiety, looking on it as a possible precursor of cholera, as diarrhoea
was always very prevalent before the out-break and during the continuance
of cholera, as may be seen on reference to my report on that
disease ; but fortunately the diarrhoea subsided, and the cases have
been, during this Quarter, not above the average number.