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
Fulham 1894
Annual report of the Medical Officer of Health for the year ending December 31st, 1894
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The following Table shows the ages of the cases of Diphtheria and Membranous Croup and the fatality at different ages :—
| Age | Cases | Deaths | Mortality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1 year | 10 | 7 | 70 per cent. |
| 1 to 2 years | 20 | 12 | 60 „ |
| 2 „ 3 „ | 28 | 14 | 50 „ |
| 3 „ 4 „ | 45 | 18 | 40 „ |
| 4 „ 5 „ | 32 | 14 | 45 „ |
| 5 „10 „ | 126 | 38 | 30 „ |
| 10 „ 15 „ | 35 | 3 | 8 „ |
| 15 „ 25 „ | 15 „ 25„ | – | „ |
| 25 „ 35 „ | 23 | 2 | 9 „ |
| 342 | 108 | 31.6 |
School Influence.
The question of the influence of primary schools in
promoting the spread of Diphtheria has been much discussed
for some time past, and the cases recorded in Fulham last
year appear to afford some evidence that the spread of the
disease was promoted by school attendance.
Comparing 1894 with 1893 it maybe noticed that although
the disease was much more prevalent in 1894, the increased
prevalence of the disease was entirely among children between
the age of 3 and 10, 203 cases having been notified of children
of that age in 1894, against 112 in 1893, and there were 175
cases among children attending school in 1894, against 99
in 1893, the increase in the number of cases among children
under 15 attending school being 76 per cent., and among
children under 15 not attending school 32 per cent.
The special incidence of the disease on particular schools
during certain periods will be noticed in the Table, which
gives the number of children attending the various schools
in the district who were notified as suffering from Diphtheria.
Thus in the Sherbrook Road School, between June 12th and
August 7th, when the holidays commenced, 20 of the children
attending the school were notified as suffering from Diphtheria
while the disease, was, comparatively speaking, absent during
that time from the three adjacent schools —Munster Road, Lillie
Road and St. Thomas's—which draw a large number of their