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

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Battersea 1893

Report upon the public health and sanitary condition of the Parish of St. Mary, Battersea during the year1893

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26
Scarlet
Fever.
The large number of one thousand, four hundred
and seven cases of this disease were notified during
1893, of whom four hundred and eighty-seven were removed to
hospital. The simultaneous outbreak of this disease in every
quarter of the Metropolis caused the Metropolitan Asylums
Board's hospital accommodation to be over-taxed, and many
cases were greatly delayed in admission, with the result that the
retention of those suffering from scarlet fever in homes where
there was insufficient or no isolation caused the disease to spread.
The opening of the Fountain Hospital at Tooting, however,
enabled the Board to remove all cases where necessary, with
the result that the epidemic diminished in activity and the
number of cases fell rapidly.
The provision of telephonic communication at the new
offices directly with the Metropolitan Asylums Board is of the
greatest possible service in securing the early removal of the
infectious sick to the Board's hospitals.
Diphtheria
and Membranous
Croup.
Six hundred and forty-eight cases of diphtheria and
thirty-four of membranous croup, an affection of the
air passages indistinguishable in origin from
diphtheria; together six hundred and eighty-two, were notified
during the year.
Diphtheria seems during the last few years to have become
endemic in London and other large towns, in spite of the
endeavours of the sanitary authorities to improve the general
conditions of their respective districts. The last few years have
been characterised by prolonged periods of dry weather, and to
this may perhaps be attributed the prevalence of this type of
disease.
Enteric or
Typhoid
Fever.
The large number of one hundred and twenty-nine
cases were notified. The remarks as to the prevalence
of diphtheria given above probably apply also to typhoid as the
origin and mode of propagation of both diseases is very similar.