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
Finsbury 1903
Report on the public health of 1903
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32
two occasions, the County Council extended the period for notification
of this disease to the end of January, 1903. We
received 690 notifications up to the end of 1902, and during
January, 1903, 20, all under the age of 15 years. Each of these
cases was specially visited and enquiries instituted. None of the
20 cases notified in 1903 were Small-pox. Several times during
the year I have been consulted by medical practitioners in the
Borough, with regard to cases of Chicken-pox which simulated
Small-pox. Happily, all these cases were Chicken-pox.
DIPHTHERIA.
There have been 119 notifications of Diphtheria (including
Membranous Croup) received during the year, as compared with
216 in 1902 and 289 in 1901. This shows a considerable
decrease.
The age incidence of Diphtheria and its mortality for 1903 was as follows:—
| Ages in Years | Under 1 year | 1-5 | 5-15 | 15-20 | 20-30 | 30-40 | 40- | Totals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of Notified Cases | Males | 4 | 31 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 2 | -- | 57 |
| Females | 2 | 21 | 30 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 62 | |
| Total | 6 | 52 | 45 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 119 | |
| Deaths from Diphtheria. | 3 | 5 | 4 | -- | — | — | — | 12 | |
| Percentage on Cases. | 16.6 | 9.6 | 8.8 | -- | — | — | 10.1 | ||
It will be seen that the chief incidence of the disease has
fallen upon young children; and as many as 97 out of the 119
were of school age.