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
Hackney 1895
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hackney]
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52
1894 inclusive and contrasted them in the following table, from which
it appears that the general death-rate does not differ much from
that of Hackney, except that it is lower in certain years; but the
infant mortality is very much higher than the Hackney rate; the
same is true of the zymotic death-rate.
Comparative T able
| YEARS. | HACKNEY. | HACKNEY WICK. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Death Rate per 1 000 living. | Infant Mortality Rate per 1,000 births. | Zymotic Rate per 1,000 living. | General Death Rate per 1 000 living. | Infant Mortality Rate per 1000 births | Zymotic Rate per 1,000 living. | |
| 1891 | 18.45 | 137 | 2.0 | 19.28 | 222 | 4.1 |
| 1892 | 18.27 | 138 | 2.7 | 16.71 | 195 | 3.5 |
| 1893 | 2615 | 155 | 3.2 | 18.71 | 252 | 3.5 |
| 1894 | 17.03 | 135 | 2.5 | 14.14 | 159 | 3.3 |
| 4 weeks ending July 1st, 1895 | 13.1 | 122 | 3.2 | 31.7 | 263 | 18.6 |
Population
(Census 1891).
Total Deaths
1891.
Hackney 198,606 3,665
Hackney Wick 7,000 135
This apparent contradiction is not at all difficult to explain. In
an earlier part of this Report I stated that the population of
Hackney Wick consisted mainly of young adults with a large proportion
of infants—this latter is proved by the high birth-rate. The
death-rate amongst young adults is always low compared with the
general rate; so the result of the above age distribution in
Hackney Wick is a general death-rate not above the average for
the whole of Hackney—the low death-rate of the adults balancing
the high rate of infants.
There is in this area an abnormal infantile death-rate and zymotic
death-rate—the latter naturally following from the former because
symotic diseases find their victims chiefly amongst infants.