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ANNUAL REPORT
OF
MEDICAL OFFICER.
TO THE VESTRY OF BERMONDSEY
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen.
I have the honour of submitting my Ninth
Annual Statement of the general mortality and
sanitary condition of the parish during the preceding
twelve months. My present Report embraces a
period of fifty-three weeks, ending on the third day
of January, 1885.
The year 1884 exhibited a comparatively low rate
of mortality notwithstanding a slight increase in the
number of fatal cases of certain diseases. Smallpox,
which had been absent for a year and a half,
again made its appearance. The deaths however,
were only five, or half the decennial average. The
deaths from Scarlet-fever amounted to but half of
the number which occurred in the previous year.
Measles, Whooping-cough, and Diarrhæa showed
an increase in the number of deaths. The last
mentioned disease invariably tends to raise the
general mortality whenever the summer is hotter
than usual, as was the case last year. The continued
prevalence of Cholera on the Continent of Europe
rendered it advisable for your sanitary officers to