Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Report of the Medical Officer of Health for the year 1896
This page requires JavaScript
TABLE X.
CAUSE OF DEATH. | Diminution in 1896. | Excess in 1896. | |
---|---|---|---|
Small-pox | 39 | _ | |
Measles | - | 938 | |
Scarlet Fever | 146 | - | |
Typhus | 6 | — | |
Influenza | 543 | — | |
Whooping-cough | - | 256 | |
Diphtheria | — | 797 | |
Simple Fever | 23 | — | |
Enteric Fever | 50 | — | |
Diarrhœal Diseases | - | 107 | |
Cancer | — | 483 | |
Phthisis and other Tubercular Diseases | 1,301 | — | |
Premature Birth | — | 151 | |
Diseases of Nervous System | 1,348 | - | |
Diseases of Circulatory System | 307 | — | |
Diseases of Respiratory System | 5,030 | — | |
Diseases of Urinary System | 37 | — | |
Childbirth and Puerperal Fever | 26 | — | |
Accident | - | 108 | |
Homicide | 5 | — | |
Suicide | 24 | — | |
All other Causes | 809 | — | |
9,694 | 2,840 | ||
Balance of Diminution or Excess | 6,854 | — |
This Table shows in a summary form, the number of lives saved
and the number lost in the year 1896, as compared with the
preceding decennium, under each of the more important headings in
the list of causes.
The net gain in life saved during 1896 was represented by 6,854
lives. In other words, had the average death-rate in 1886-95 continued
throughout the year under present notice, 6,854 lives would
have been sacrificed in addition to those which have been actually
lost by death. In the year 1896 there was, as compared with the
decennial average, an excess of 938 deaths from measles, 797 from
diphtheria, 256 from whooping cough, 107 from diarrhœal disease,
483 from cancer, 151 from premature birth, and 108 from accident.
Under each of the other headings in the table the mortality in 1896
was below the average. This was notably the case in regard
to diseases of the respiratory system, the deaths referred to which
were 5,030 below the annual average.