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
Lambeth 1904
Report on the vital and sanitary statistics of the Borough of Lambeth during the year 1904
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Taking all the "Contacts" or "Suspects" together, inside and outside, the total numbers may be tabulated (with particulars as to their vaccination-states, &c.) as follows:—
| All "Contacts" or "Suspects." | Vaccination States. | Number Sickening with Smallpox. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 330 | Adults 252 | Re-vac. or had Smallpox, 49 | 1(2.4 per cent.) |
| Vaccinated, 198 | 8(4.04 per cent.) | ||
| Unvaccinated, 5 | 1(20.0 per cent.) | ||
| Children 78 | Vaccinated, 57 | 1(1.8 per cent.) | |
| Unvaccinated, 21 | 3(14.3 per cent.) | ||
A large amount of work was involved in watching these 330 "Contacts"
or "Suspects" for a period of 16 days each, but such work was absolutely
necessary, for had the 14 new Smallpox centres not been immediately
discovered and dealt with, the disease must have spread, and assumed
epidemic proportions. Careful and systematic quarantine is of the greatest
importance in Smallpox cases.
Taking the 10 years 1891-1900, the Smallpox statistics for the Old Parish
of Lambeth show annual averages of 1.1 deaths and 22 notifications, as
compared with, for the New Borough of Lambeth, during the years 1901-4,
54, 350, 72, and 23 notifications, and 4, 60, 4, and 0 deaths respectively. The
figures for London as a whole are:—
1901—1700 cases and 229 deaths.
1902—7796 cases and 1314 deaths.
1903—417 cases and 13 deaths.
1904—492 cases and 25 deaths.
The Vaccination Returns of the Local Government Board for the Borough
of Lambeth are to be found in Tables Q and R, dealing with the whole year
1903, and the first half of 1904 respectively, given, for comparison with the
Reports of former years, both for the new Borough and the old Parish of
Lambeth. The yearly Returns are not made up for the Local Government
Board until August of the following year, so that only the Returns for the
first half of 1904 can be given in this Report.
The total number of conscientious objectors who have obtained certificates
during 1904, irrespective of the dates of birth of the children to which they
relate, is 109, whilst the total numbers of successful primary vaccinations at
all ages received during 1903 and 1904 are 7,185 and 7,643 respectively.