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 1897
Annual report for 1897 of the Medical Officer of Health
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The following Table II. gives the death-rate of Chelsea and its constituent districts, and of London, during the past seven years :— Table II.
| Year. | Home District. | Kensal Town. | Chelsea. | London. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Death-rate. | Death-rate. | Death-rate. | Death-rate. | |
| 1891 | 22.1 | 17.5 | 21.0 | 21.4 |
| 1892 | 21.9 | 17.8 | 21.0 | 20.7 |
| 1893 | 21.6 | 16.3 | 20.4 | 21.4 |
| 1894 | 17.6 | 14.1 | 16.8 | 17.8 |
| 1895 | 20.8 | 16.8 | 19.9 | 19.9 |
| 1896 | 19.0 | 18.2 | 18.8 | 18.6 |
| 1897 | 17.9 | 17.1 | 17.7 | 18.2 |
The lessened mortality in Chelsea in 1897, as compared with 1896,
is attributable to a lesser prevalence in 1897 of diphtheria and measles,
which diseases caused a large number of deaths amongst children in
1896. The high death-rates of the years 1891, 1892, 1893, and 1895,
were largely due to the prevalence of epidemic influenza in those years.
The general death-rate of Chelsea in 1897 would have been lower had
it not been for the excessive prevalence of infantile diarrhœa in July
and August.
The deaths of parishioners of Kensal Town numbered 365,
equivalent to a death-rate of 17.1 per 1,000; the death-rate of the
home district (1,344 deaths) being 17.9 per 1,000.
Zymotic death-rate. —The death-rato in Chelsea from the seven
principal zymotic diseases was 3.11 per 1,000 in 1897, the corresponding
rate for London generally being also 3.11 per 1,000. In 1896 the
zymotic death-rate in Chelsea was 4.31 per 1,000, this high rate
due to excessive mortalities from diphtheria, measles, and diarrhœa.
Table III.—For the year 1897.
| Zymotic death-rate. | Influenza death-rate. | Diarrhœa death-rate. | Phthisis death-rate. | Other tubercular diseases death-rate. | Respiratory diseases death-rate. | Deaths under 1 year to 1,000 births. | Percentage of deaths under 5 to total deaths | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home District | 2.8 | .. | 1.34 | 1.96 | 0.52 | 3.39 | 151 | 32.1 |
| Kensal Town | 4.3 | .. | 2.49 | 1.41 | 0.56 | 2.72 | 190 | 46.0 |
| Chelsea | 3.1 | 0.20 | 1.60 | 1.84 | 0.53 | 3.25 | 161 | 35.1 |
| London | 8.1 | 0.15 | 1.45 | 1.77 | 0.70 | 3.14 | 159 | 39.8 |
There were no deaths from small-pox in 1897; and, as in 1896,
not a single case of the disease oocurred in the parish.