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
Chelsea 1900
Annual report for 1900 of the Medical Officer of Health
This page requires JavaScript
19
Section III.
A RETROSPECT OF 40 YEARS.
The Vestry of Chelsea was created in 1855, and had 45 years of
office. During this period very great changes have been brought about
in sanitary administration, and the public health has enormously benefited.
Comparing the two decennial periods, 1856—1865, and 1890—99,
the first 10 years and the last 10 complete years of the Vesfry's existence.
The average birth-rate (for 10 years) has been reduced 15 per cent.,
namely from 32.3 per 1,000 to 27.5 per 1,000, and this rate is being
still further reduced. The general death-rate has been reduced from
24.3 to 19.4—a 20 per cent. reduction.
The following Table shows the reductions in the mortalities from the more common preventible diseases.
Table XIV.—Death-rates per 100,000 living.
| 1856—65. | 1890-99. | Percentage Reduction. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small-pox | 16.4 | 0.21 | 87 % |
| Measles | 69.5 | 53.5 | 23 % |
| Scarlet Fever and Diphtheria | 111.9 | 74.9 | 33% |
| Whooping Cough | 79.9 | 51.6 | 35% |
| Diarrhoea | 114.9 | 106.8 | 7% |
| Fever | 69.4 | 13.8 | 80% |
| Phthisis | 344.3 | 193.0 | 44% |
| Respiratory Diseases | 444.8 | 407.7 | 8% |
Small-pox has only caused 2 deaths in the last 10 years, whereas it
was the cause of 104 deaths in the Vestry's first 10 years of office. In
the early days of the Vestry, only a proportion of the cases, namely
those chargeable to the parish, were removed by the Guardians to smallpox
hospitals, which were within London, and situated in populous
neighbourhoods. These hospitals were subsequently shown to act as
centres for the diffusion of infection in their neighbourhoods. At the
present time, every case is removed to the hospital ships on the Thames
in Long Reach, and there is rarely any spread from known cases of the
disease.
Typhus has practically disappeared from Chelsea and from London.
There has been only one undoubted case in Chelsea in 10 years.
Between 1856 and 1865, typhus and enteric fever, which were not
at that time separated in the returns, caused 440 deaths. In the last
10 years there have been no deaths from typhus; and enteric fever has
only caused 127 deaths.