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CARSHALTON URBAN DISTRICT.
Area, 2,926 Acres.
Population at Census in 1871, 3,668 ; in 1881, 4,841 ; in 1891, 5,425.
Number of inhabited Houses at Census in 1871, 732 ; in 1881, 910; in 1891, 1,091.
MEDICAL OFFICER'S REPORT FOR THE YEAR 1898.
I.— Vital Statistics: Births and Deaths.
1. Judging from the number of the inhabited houses, the population of the Parish, in the middle
of the year, may be estimated at 6,300 persons.
2. The number of Births registered in the Parish during the year was 169, or eight more than
in the previous year. The Birth-rate for the year, therefore, was 27 per 1,000 of the estimated population.
3. The number of Deaths registered in the Parish during the year was 70 (as against 76 in the
preceding year), to which must be added nine deaths in the Epsom Workhouse, Isolation Hospital, and
County Asylum of persons belonging to the Parish. These 79 deaths represent an Annual Death-rate of
12.5 per 1,000 of the population, estimated as above.
4. As to the Infant Mortality. The Deaths of Infants under one year were 27 in number, as against
29 in the preceding year, and were equal to 16 per cent, of the registered births, which is much above
their previous average rate in the Parish. This high infant mortality was chiefly due to the unusually
large number of deaths from diarrhoea.
5. The deaths from Pulmonary Consumption (three in number) were at the rate of 0.4 per 1,000 of
the estimated population, and were below the previous average rate in the Parish.
6. . The deaths from other lung diseases (Bronchitis, Pleurisy, and Pneumonia) were 11 in number,
as against 16 in the preceding year, and were at the rate of 1.7 per 1,000 of the estimated population,
which is below their previous average rate in the Parish.
(See also Tables I. and II. at the end of the Report.)
II.—Summary of Sickness and Mortality from the Seven Principal Zymotic
Diseases, and from the other Diseases which must be notified under
the Infectious Diseases (Notification) Act, 1889, and of the action
taken for preventing their spread.
1. No case of Small Pox was reported during the year.
2. Measles caused no death.
3. Whooping Cough caused no death.
4. Scarlet Fever (otherwise called Scarlatina) was rather prevalent in the district during the first
three and the last two months of the year, as will be seen on reference to Table III. at the end of the
report. Altogether, 32 cases were notified in 20 houses, and 30 of the sick were removed to the Joint
Isolation Hospital. None of the illnesses ended fatally. In one house there were five cases ; in another
there were four cases ; in five there were two eases per house, and in each of the remaining 13 houses
there was only one case.
5. Diphtheria was notified in January at a house in Carshalton Grove; in May at one in Carshalton
Eoad ; in June at one on the Hackbridge Road, and at one in Pound Street; and in December at one on
Park Hill and at another in Carshalton Road. Altogether there were six cases in these six houses.
None of the illnesses ended fatally, and two of them were probably contracted out of the district. Three
of the sick were removed to the Isolation Hospital, and one, whose illness was detected at a London
Hospital, was detained there for treatment. At two of the houses certain sanitary defects were
discovered, which might have played some part in causing the appearance of the disease in them.