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Among the "zymotic" diseases, hooping-cough caused
110 deaths, and measles 38, a contrast to the records of 1899,
when there were 76 from hooping-cough, and 127 from measles.
The above deaths, classified according to the locality in which
they occurred, were, so far as hooping-cough is concerned, 32
in Camberwell, 38 in Peckham, and 40 in St. George's, while
as regards measles, 1 was in Dulwich, 8 in Camberwell, 14 in
Peckham, and 12 in St. George's. In three instances the
address from which the patient had been removed to the
Infirmary, &c., could not be ascertained. As usual in these
maladies the fatal effects were almost entirely shewn in
children under the age of 5. The deaths from measles were
fewer than in any year since 1876.
Sixty-one deaths from hooping-cough, and 6 from measles
took place in one or other of the public institutions, chiefly the
Infirmary and Workhouse.
There were 126 deaths from influenza, 29 more than in
1899. I have included under this heading all cases where
this appeared to be the primary cause of death, although
bronchitis or some other inflammatory affection of the lungs
was the disease which carried the patient off.
There were 204 deaths from diarrhœa, and 78 from other
forms of inflammatory diseases of the intestines, such as enteritis,
compared with a total of 371 in the previous year. The
classification of the Local Government Board shews the
mortality from the epidemic form of the disease, to which most
of the deaths of infants are due, and which is probably caused
by certain micro organisms. It is, however, decided that in
future under this head should be included not only deaths from
diarrhœa alone, but also from cholera and dysentery.
The causation of the summer diarrhœa of children has
been brought prominently before the profession during the past
year by the Milroy Lectures at the College of Physicians.
From the incidence of the disease, both as regards locality
and age, the opinion was enunciated in these lectures that the
milk in the various shops was infected by the dust blowing in
from the streets, and that contamination largely arises through
the agency of horse dung. I have before pointed out the
result of the observations made in Liverpool some years ago,
showing that the mortality among breast-fed children even
ix.