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
Islington 1902
Forty-seventh annual report on the health and sanitary condition of the Borough of Islington
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1902]
28
In considering these figures it must be recollected that the averages of
the ten years have not been corrected for an increase in the population.
Consequently the age-period returns are better than they seem. (Vide Table
XIII.)
The Death-rates at each Age Period and of Sexes are fully set
out both for males and females in Table XIV, where it will be noticed that
whereas the gross death-rate among males was 17.37 Per 1,000, that among
women was only 15.50.
SEASONAL MORTALITY.
The mortality in the quarters was variable, for although the deaths numbered as many as 1,796 in the first quarter, they decreased to 1,220 in the second, and still further declined to 1,149 in the third, but rose to 1,470 in the fourth.
| Quarters. | 1902 | Mean Death-rate, 1885-1901. | Increase or Decrease in Death-rate. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deaths. | Death-rates. | |||
| First | 1,796 | 21.30 | 20.6l | + 0.69 |
| Second | 1,220 | 14.47 | 16.19 | — 1.72 |
| Third | 1,149 | 13.62 | 16.21 | — 2.59 |
| Fourth | 1,470 | 16.19 | 17.85 | — 1.66 |
| 5,635 | 16.39 | 17.72 | — 1.33 | |
This statement shows readily the deaths and death-rates which prevailed in
each quarter. A reference to Table XXI. will enable an exact opinion to be
formed as to the causes which were mainly responsible for the higher mortality
which occurred in the first quarter. They have already been dealt with in the
Quarterly Report of your Medical Officer of Health, and, therefore, there is no
further need of discussing them; suffice it to say that Miasmatic Diseases,
which include among other diseases Small-pox, Diphtheria and Whooping
Cough, showed a higher mortality than usual. So also did Venereal Diseases,
Septic Diseases, Constitutional Diseases, Respiratory Diseases, Organs of
Special Sense, Diseases of the Urinary System, of the Reproductive System,
and of Bones and Joints. Deaths through violence were also higher than
usual, as were the deaths from accident and homicide. Further particulars
as to seasonal mortality are given in Tables XVII., XVIII., XX., XXI., and
XXVII., to which reference is desirable.