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 1905
Report on the public health of Finsbury 1905 including annual report on factories and workshops
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63
who not only drink more, but who come more within the range of
public-house infection.
Dr. MacLearn, the Medical Superintendent of the Holborn
Infirmary, Archway Road, N., writes to me under date January 3rd,
1906:—" The total number of deaths from phthisis, occurring in
the Holborn Union Workhouse Infirmary, during 1905, was 127
(being 29 less than in 1904), of these, 97 were of patients coming
from Finsbury. The total number of phthisis cases now under
treatment in this Infirmary is 197, of these cases 134 (22 women
and 112 men) belong to Finsbury."
The following table sets out the number of phthisis deaths in institutions as follows:—
| Total Number ofPhthisis Deaths. | Phthisis Deaths in HolbornUnion Infirmary. | Inother Institutions. | Total inInstitutions. | Percentage of Deaths inInstitutions. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 216 | 82 | 39 | 121 | 56.0 | ||
| 1902 | 240 | 88 | 20 | 108 | 45.0 | ||
| 1903 | 223 | 97 | 20 | 117 | 52.5 | ||
| 1904 | 251 | 113 | 27 | 140 | 55.7 | ||
| 1905 | 215 | 97 | 31 | 128 | 59.5 | ||
From this table it will be seen that more than half the deaths
from this disease in Finsbury occur in institutions, and, with few
exceptions, poor law institutions. This means, in the first place, that
more than half the deaths are of the very poor, and secondly, it
means that more than half of the advanced and dying cases of this
disease are isolated from the community, and in this way a large
body of infection is removed from the district, which is a matter of
the greatest importance as a means of prevention of the spread of
the disease. Rut our greatest need at the present time in dealing
with phthisis in Finsbury is earlier and more frequent isolation of
the patient, both for his own sake and the protection of the
community.