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
Deptford 1931
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Deptford, Metropolitan Borough of]
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17
The following Tables illustrate the trend of infant mortality during
recent years in regard to the deaths from different diseases in the
various age groups.
M
| Year. | Under 1 week | 1-2 weeks | 2-3 weeks | 3-4 weeks | Total under 4 weeks | 4 weeks to 3 mths. | 3-6 mths. | 6-9 mths. | 9-12 mths. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decennium 1915-1924 | 24.8 | 5.0 | 4.3 | 3.2 | 37.3 | 18.6 | 17.9 | 12.3 | 13.9 |
| 1925-1929 | 27.0 | 6.1 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 39.6 | 18.4 | 13.8 | 13.5 | 14.7 |
| 1930 | 27.1 | 4.7 | 7.5 | 4.7 | 44.0 | 16.8 | 14.0 | 13.1 | 12.1 |
| 1931 | 26.9 | 3.2 | 2.2 | — | 32.3 | 25.6 | 14.0 | 12.9 | 15.1 |
Mortality (Stated as Percentages) from Certain
Defined Causes.
| Causes. | Under Four Weeks. | Nine to Twelve Months. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. 1915-24 | Avg. 1925-29 | 1930 | 1931 | Avg. 1915-24 | Avg. 1925-29 | 1930 | 1931 | |
| Measles | 1.2 | 1.8 | 3.7 | |||||
| Whooping Cough | 0.06 | .. | 1.6 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 4.3 | ||
| Convulsions | 1.9 | 2.7 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.7 | ||
| Bronchitis | 1.3 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.3 | .. | |||
| Pneumonia fall forms) .. | 1.2 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 5 0 | 5 3 | 1 9 | 312 | |
| Diarrhoea & Enteritis | 0.5 | 0.5 | 19 | 22 | 1.3 | 9.7 | ||
| Injury at Birth | 0.8 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 4.3 | ||||
| Congenital Malformations | 2.3 | 4.2 | 2.8 | 43 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 6.5 |
| Atrophy, Debility and Marasmus | 5.8 | 4.4 | 11.2 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | .. | 7.5 |
| Premature Birth | 17.1 | 17.5 | 15.9 | 17.2 | .. | .. | • • | 2.2 |
Special Noteworthy Causes of Sickness on Invalidity.
In the absence of any system by which information of current illness
is available recourse must be had to consideration of the preceding
mortality tables. These show that, although yearly fluctuations occur,
the most common causes of death, in descending sequence, are associated
with the circulatory and respiratory systems and with malignant
disease. The former preponderance of death from respiratory disease
(largely due to the then high tuberculosis mortality) has given place
to diseases of the heart and blood vessels. Heart disease has established
itself firmly as the commonest single cause of death.
Its recorded increase has been phenomenal; the number of persons
dying in 1931, in comparison with the average annual deaths in the
decennium 1915-1924, has more than doubled.
B