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
Battersea 1907
Report on the health of the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea for the year 1907
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60
The seasonal mortality from the different important
zymotic diseases is well shown by arranging the deaths
quarterly, thus—
The seasonal mortality from the different important zymotic diseases is well shown by arranging the deaths quarterly, thus—
| Quarter No. | Small-pox. | Measles. | Whooping Cough. | Scarlet Fever. | Diphtheria. | Fever. | Diarrhoea. | Erysipelas. | Puerperal Fever. | Cholera. | Influenza. | Total. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Typhus. | Typhoid. | Continued. | ||||||||||||
| 1 | - | 4 | 12 | 2 | 12 | - | 1 | - | 6 | 5 | - | 9 | 51 | |
| 2 | - | 17 | 23 | 7 | 10 | - | - | - | 5 | 3 | - | - | 2 | 67 |
| 3 | - | 35 | 15 | 8 | 5 | - | 3 | - | 16 | - | 1 | - | - | 83 |
| 4 | - | 16 | 12 | 3 | 11 | - | - | - | 20 | 2 | 1 | - | 11 | 76 |
| Year | - | 72 | | 62 | 20 | 38 | - | 4 | - | 47 | 5 | 7 | - | 22 | 277 |
Drains and sanitary fitting's are tested as a routine in all
infected houses in cases of diphtheria and enteric and puerperal
fever, but in the case of scarlet fever only in such instances
as may be found necessary. It does not follow that when
defects are found such defects are the cause of the diseases
under investigation. They may indirectly be so.
The tests used are the smoke test and chemical test
(Kingzett's). When a positive result is obtained the drain
(tested) is defective, but when a negative result is obtained it
would be unsafe to assume that therefore the drain (tested)
was sound. A negative result proves nothing. The only
reliable tests are the hydraulic (water) and the pneumatic (air)
tests, but these are considered too severe for the routine
testing of drains of old buildings.