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 1898
Annual report for 1898 of the Medical Officer of Health
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14
proportion of the total being 12 cases. The number of cases notified in
the first quarter of the year in Chelsea was 12 ; in the second quarter, 4;
in the third quarter, 10 ; and in the fourth quarter, 30 (19 in the homo
district, and 11 in Kensal Town). In 8 cases the infection of the
disease may have been, and probably was acquired, outside the parish,
whilst in another case the patient was received into a Nursing Home in
the parish from outside. This leaves 47 cases in which the infection
was probably acquired in the parish, as compared with 46 in 1897. It
is somewhat remarkable that out of the 14 cases notified in Kensal Town
from the 1st October to the end of the year, 9 were of children under
12 years of age, this extreme incidence on children being somewhat
unusual.
The following Table XII. shows the case mortality, or percentage
of deaths to notifications of scarlet fever, diphtheria (including
membranous croup), and enteric fever in Chelsea, and in London, in
each of the nine years, 1890-98.
Table XII.—Case Mortality in Chelsea, and in London, 1890-98.
| Scarlet Fever. | Diphtheria and Membranous Croup. | Enteric Fever. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chelsea. | London. | Chelsea. | London. | Chelsea. | London. | |
| 1890 | 7.0 | 5.7 | 17.6 | 24.1 | 17.4 | 23.0 |
| 1891 | 3.6 | 5.1 | 15.4 | 22.5 | 17.4 | 15.6 |
| 1892 | 5.3 | 4.3 | 22.9 | 23.9 | 13.6 | 17.2 |
| 1893 | 5.3 | 4.3 | 23.4 | 24.5 | 22.1 | 18.4 |
| 1894 | 5.1 | 5.2 | 21.7 | 23.6 | 14.7 | 18.1 |
| 1895 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 18.7 | 20.4 | 18.4 | 17.0 |
| 1896 | 4.9 | 3.7 | 22.9 | 19.3 | 14.7 | 17.7 |
| 1897 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 17.9 | 17.1 | 26.4 | 18.8 |
| 1898 | 4.2 | 3.4 | 15.1 | 25.0 | 19.3 | |
As in 1897 the case mortality of enteric fever in Chelsea was
somewhat high, as compared with previous years. The lowered
fatality of diphtheria in recent years is probably to be attributed
to the gradually extending use of the antitoxin treatment in this
disease.
Table XIII. exhibits the removals of patients suffering from
scarlet fever, diphtheria, and enteric fever, from their homes to hospitals,
in each of the nine years, 1890.98, expressed as percentages of the total
number of cases notified.