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
Chelsea 1893
Annual report for 1893 of the Medical Officer of Health
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Table IX.—Notifications in 1892 and in 1893 per 10,000 of Population (1891 Census).
| Smallpox. | Scarlet | Fever. | Diphtheria. | Enteric Fever. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1893 | 1892 | 1893 | 1892 | 1893 | 1892 | 1893 | |
| London | 6.96 | 66.3 | 90.0 | 19.1 | 31.9 | 6.0 | 8.9 |
| Chelsea | 4.78 | 56.3 | 62.6 | 18.3 | 24.5 | 5.3 | 8.3 |
| Kensington | 5.77 | 43.2 | 57.5 | 10.8 | 22.1 | 3.4 | 6.1 |
| Fulham | 3.38 | 59.1 | 78.7 | . 10.7 | 26.2 | 4.6 | 6.7 |
| Hammersmith | 1.85 | 47.8 | 70.6 | 32.8 | 28.6 | 4.7 | 7.0 |
| Paddington St. George's, Hanover Sq | 6.11 | 47.2 | 69.8 | 14.6 | 24.7 | 4.0 | 6.0 |
| 3.06 | 47.6 | 80.4 | 17.1 | 15.6 | 6.0 | 9.2 | |
| Westminster | 8.78 | 55.6 | 76.7 | 25.8 | 15.2 | 4.3 | 8.1 |
| St. James's | 22.41 | 32.8 | 50.4 | 10.8 | 19.6 | 5.2 | 8.8 |
| Marylebone | 13.06 | 52.3 | 66.6 | l6.2 | 27.6 | 5.3 | 6.9 |
Table IX. shows the increased prevalence of scarlet fever and
diphtheria in London and in the western districts of London in
1893, as compared with 1892. It is satisfactory to find that the
increase of these diseases in Chelsea in 1893 is proportionally very
much less than in London as a whole; also that Chelsea takes a
better position amongst the western districts than it did in the year
previous.
Marylebone—one of the northern districts—has been introduced
into the table, owing to the fact of the Vestry of this parish having
established during the past two years a fever hospital of its own for
the reception of cases during the periods when the Metropolitan
Asylums Board's hospitals were not adequately available. It will
be seen that no very striking results, in comparative paucity of fever
and diphtheria cases, were attained by the establishment of this
experimental hospital. The 1893 increases in notifications were
very considerably greater in Marylebone than in Chelsea. This
result is not surprising when one considers how a metropolitan
parish like Marylebone is hedged in by surrounding populous
districts, and that the same schools are attended by children from
different parishes, so that the risks of exposure to infection are but
slightly affected by the better isolation of fever cases practised by
one parish only out of the many contributing their quota to a
common centre, such as is a large school. I think the general
opinion will be that isolated action in this respect on the part of any
London parish is unproductive of results proportionate to the
expense and trouble incurred.
The extreme incidence of small-pox on the parish of St. James's,
Westminster, is worthy of note. The large number of business
establishments in this quarter, employing a great many hands, may