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
Fulham 1920
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Fulham]
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TABLE VII.
| Diseases. | Deaths per 1000 Births. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1920. | Average of 5 years 1915-19. | |
| Infectious Diseases | 4.4 | 8.1 |
| Tuberculous ,, | 1.9 | 2.9 |
| Respiratory„ | l5.7 | 20.1 |
| Diarrhoeal ,, | 9.9 | 19.3 |
| Developmental ,, | 28.9 | 35.0 |
| Other ,, | 13.2 | 14.6 |
| 74.0 | 100 0 | |
The most notable decline was in the diarrhoeal rate,
which was 3.8 per 1,000 below that of 1919, the lowest
recorded, and 9.4 per 1,000 below the quinquennial
average, but it will be remembered that the cold unseasonable
weather of last summer was very favourable
to a low diarrhoeal mortality. There was also a substantial
drop in the deaths from developmental diseases,
which hitherto have not shared the reduction
shown in other groups of infantile diseases.
Deaths of Illegitimate Infants.—Of the 320 infants
who died before attaining the age of one year 22 were
illegitimate, the mortality among them being in the
proportion of 106 deaths to 1,000 illegitimate births,
against 72 per 1,000 among children born in wedlock.
Before this the mortality of illegitimates has invariably
been more than double that of legitimate
children, and their lowest rate was 195 per 1,000 in
1919.
14
Causes of Infantile Mortality.—Table VI. gives
the causes of the deaths at various periods under one
year, and in the following table the mortality from
certain groups of diseases is given:—