London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Camberwell 1896

Forty-first annual report of the Vestry ...

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generally, has been very marked, and Camberwell was in the
unenviable position of being the district in which the greatest
number of cases was recorded in London. After allowance
has been made for the population the death-rate, however, was
not quite the largest, that of Chelsea being 1.17, while Camberwell
was 1.01. The correct number of deaths for the Parish
was 181 in 1895 and 262 in 1896, of which 174 occurred at
houses in the Parish, while 88 were of parishioners who had
been removed to hospitals and other places outside its
boundary.
Table CC gives the deaths and cases for the four
quarters of the year and in the four registration districts.
Prom this former it will be seen that the disease was much
more prevalent in some parts of the Parish than in others.
Up to the beginning of February the disease seemed to be
equally diffused, but about the middle of that month it began
to show special incidence on children in the neighbourhood of
Eye Lane and Choumert Road, so much so that I judged it
advisable before the separation of the Vestry for the Easter
vacation to arm myself with power to close Choumert Road
Board School if I thought it necessary. I did not however
think that occasion arose to justify the closure. At the
wish of the Medical Officer to the School Board the infants'
and girls' departments were disinfected. Granting, however,
that the starting point of the disease was this school, the
disinfection seemed to have but little effect on its spread, for
we had a series of attacks early in May among those who lived
in houses whence there were attendants at Choumert Road.
At this period, however, the disease was by no means confined
to this part of the Parish, but it did seem here to prevail
specially (speaking with reference to primary attacks) among
children of school ages, and as regards the period before Easter
among children who were attending the girls' and infants'
departments of Choumert Road School. The progress of the
disease subsequent to this is contained in a report I have made
to the Vestry, and from which the following is an extract: —
BELLENDEN ROAD, CHOUMERT ROAD, WOOD'S ROAD AND ADYS
ROAD BOARD SCHOOLS.
The number of cases notified in the Parish from June
Ist to December 31st was 971, the total for the whole year