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 1934
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Deptford, Metropolitan Borough of]
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61
Diphtheria.
The number of deaths, which in recent years had fallen, reverted to the average for the years 1915-1924.
| Year | No. of Cases | Attack Rate per 1,000 population | No. of Deaths | Case Mortality per cent. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average 1915-24 | 322 | 2.8 | 19 | 5.9 |
| 1925-29 | 496 | 4.3 | 14 | 2.8 |
| 1930 | 434 | 3.9 | 4 | 0.9 |
| 1931 | 264 | 2.5 | 12 | 4.5 |
| 1932 | 249 | 2.3 | 6 | 2.4 |
| 1933 | 236 | 2.3 | 5 | 2.1 |
| 1934 | 310 | 3.1 | 19 | 6.2 |
In this connection, parents should consider as to the advisability of
protecting their children from the disease by the method of artificial
immunisation. The Borough Council has established a clinic for this
purpose and, with proper safeguards as adopted there, it may confidently
be said that no risk attaches to the method.
The work of the Diphtheria Immunisation Clinic has been undertaken
by Dr. Donnelly, who has very kindly furnished me with the
following Report:—
Schick testing and inoculation began in March, 1927. The figures for successive years are as follows:—
| Year. | Positive. | Number of Schick Tests. | Total. | Fully Inoculated. | Partly Inoculated. | No. of Inoculations given. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Negative. | Unknown Result. | ||||||
| 1927 | 214 | 152 | 8 | 374 | 410 | 15 | 1233 |
| 1928 | 85 | 75 | 14 | 174 | 168 | 65 | 580 |
| 1929 | 21 | 27 | 7 | 55 | 72 | 15 | 221 |
| 1930 | 15 | 27 | - | 42 | 65 | 3 | 199 |
| 1931 | 6 | 7 | - | 13 | 17 | 5 | 58 |
| 1932 | 3 | - | 1 | 4 | 11 | - | 33 |
| 1933 | 5 | 4 | - | 9 | 32 | 1 | 97 |
| 1934 | 2 | 8 | - | 10 | 11 | - | 33 |
| Positive. | Number of Schick Re-tests. | Total. | |||||
| Negative. Unknown Result | |||||||
| 1927 | - | - | — | - | |||
| 1928 | 34 | 134 | 13 | 181 | |||
| 1929 | 8 | 55 | 3 | 66 | |||
| 1930 | 5 | 39 | 1 | 45 | |||
| 1931 | 3 | 21 | 2 | 26 | |||
| 1932 | 2 | 15 | — | 17 | |||
| 1933 | 1 | — | — | 1 | |||
| 1934 | 3 | 21 | — | 24 | |||