London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Wandsworth 1880
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Wandsworth District, The Board of Works (Clapham, Putney, Streatham, Tooting & Wandsworth)]
This page requires JavaScript
19
Above 80 years of age 13 persons died.
| 1880 | 1870 | 1878 | 1877 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diarrhœa and Infantile Cholera | 78 | 43 | 71 | 47 | |
| Scarlatina | 63 | 44 | 19 | 18 | |
| Whooping Cough | 48 | 39 | 63 | 20 | |
| Measles | 22 | 47 | 6 | 47 | |
| Fevers | Typhus 2 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 17 |
| Enteric 13 | |||||
| Metria (Childbirth) | 5 | 12 | 2 | 8 | |
| Croup | 4 | 9 | 12 | 10 | |
| Erysipelas | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | |
| Diphtheria | 2 | 6 | 4 | 1 | |
| Small Pox | 1 | 1 | 5 | 28 | |
| Total | 237 | 218 | 194 | 206 | |
| Zymotic death-rate per 1,000 per annum | 4.3 | 8.9 | 3.7 | 4.3 | |
It will be observed that the higher death-rate from
Diarrhoea, and the allied diseases, accounts for most of
the increased Zymotic mortality. This depends much
upon the condition of the atmosphere as regards temperature,
pressure, and humidity, and here can be no doubt
that improper feeding in the very young is also an
important factor in the production of this disease. The
admission of sewage gases by the medium of untrapped
and improperly laid drains is another fertile source of
danger, and the condition of the water supplied to the
locality has been shown to be, when the normal temperature
is exceeded, directly productive of affections of
the alimentary canal.