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 1899
Annual report for 1899 of the Medical Officer of Health
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Table II. gives the death-rates of Chelsea and its constituent
districts, and of London, during the past nine years: —
Table II. gives the death-rates of Chelsea and its constituent districts, and of London, during the past nine years:— Table II.
| Year. | Home District. | Kensal Town. | Chelsea. | London. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Death-rate. | Death-rate. | Death-rate. | Death-rate. | |
| 1891 | 22.1 | 17.5 | 21.0 | 21.4 |
| 1892 | 21.9 | 17.8 | 21.0 | 20.7 |
| 1893 | 21.6 | 16.3 | 20.4 | 21.4 |
| 1894 | 17.6 | 14.1 | 16.8 | 17.8 |
| 1895 | 20.8 | 16.8 | 19.9 | 19.9 |
| 1896 | 19.0 | 18.2 | 18.8 | 18.6 |
| 1897 | 17.9 | 17.1 | 17.7 | 18.2 |
| 1898 | 18.1 | 18.7 | 18.2 | 18.7 |
| 1899 | 20.0 | 18.7 | 19.7 | 19.8 |
The higher mortality in Chelsea home district in 1899, as compared
with 1898, viz., 1.9 per 1,000, is attributable to a greater
prevalence of whooping cough and influenza, with a corresponding
increase in deaths from respiratory diseases. There was also an increase
in the number of deaths of adults, and of old people over 65 years, in
1899, as compared with 1898.
Zymotic death-rate.—The death-rate in Chelsea from the seven
principal zymotic diseases was 2.88 per 1,000 in 1899, the corresponding
rate for London being 3.20 per 1,000. In 1898 the zymotic death-rate
in Chelsea was 3.39 per 1,000. The decrease in 1899 is due to a
diminished prevalence of scarlet fever, diphtheria, and more especially
of measles, whooping-cough being the only disease showing a large
increase.
Table III.—For the year 1899.
| Zymotic death-rate. | Diarrhœa death-rate. | Phthisis death-rate. | Other tubercular diseases death-rate. | Respiratory diseases death-rate. | Cancer death-rate. | Deaths under 1 year to 1,000 births. | Percentage of deaths under 5 to total deaths | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home District | 2.67 | 1.29 | 1.96 | 0.49 | 4.39 | 1.08 | 156 | 28.4 |
| Kensal Town... | 3.64 | 2.03 | 1.80 | 0.71 | 3.69 | 0.71 | 187 | 38.8 |
| Chelsea | 2.88 | 1.45 | 1.93 | 0.54 | 4.23 | 0.99 | 164 | 30.5 |
| London | 3.20 | 1.66 | 1.88 | 0.64 | 3.89 | 0.93 | 167 | 36.9 |
Kensal Town again suffered severely from summer diarrhoea in
1899, but less heavily than in 1898 and in 1897, in the latter year the
diarrhoea death-rate being 2.49 per 1,000. The mortality from measles
4