London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Hackney 1898
Report on the sanitary condition of the Hackney District for the year 1898
This page requires JavaScript
20
Boys' Department 2 cases.
Girls' „ 5 ,,
Infants' „ 32 „
The incidence of the disease upon the different classes of the Infants' department with the average attendance and the percentage attacked, are given in the following table:—
| Classes. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Totals. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Of the 39 cases occurring in the whole school, 19 were resident
in Islington, the remainder in Hackney, and I have here to express
my thanks to Dr. Harris, the Medical Officer of Health for Islington,
for particulars relating to the Islington cases.
The above are the main facts as to the outbreak, are they
sufficient to prove that school influence has been at work in Hackney
during the year in spreading Diphtheria ?
It will be seen from the above figures that the Infants'
Department suffered during the period in question to the extent of
9.5 per cent., the percentage in the different classes varying from
4.5 to 24.3. It should be noted that the latter figure represents the
extent to which Class VII. suffered—equal nearly to one child out
of every four. This heavy incidence cannot be the result of mere
chance; indeed, both in this class-room and the corresponding
class-room of the Rushmore Road Board Schools, the conditions
are such as, in my opinion, must favour the spread of infectious
disease, if, by any chance a case is introduced. I refer to the kind