London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Fulham 1908
Annual report of the Medical Officer of Health for the year 1908
This page requires JavaScript
30
SCARLET FEVER.
596 cases of scarlet fever were notified, the numbers for the
preceding three years being 668, 674 and 779.
The disease was most prevalent in the first three months of
the year, and the usual autumnal rise, which generally reaches its
maximum about the end of October, was not marked.
The returns for the four quarters were: —
| Cases. | Deaths. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Quarter | 215 | 7 |
| 2nd „ | 108 | 5 |
| 3rd „ | 119 | 1 |
| 4th „ (14 weeks) | 154 | 4 |
| 596 | 17 |
The cases occurred in 481 houses, as under:—
| Houses with one case | 400 | |
| „ „ two cases | 61 | |
| „ „ three „ | 14 | |
| „ „ four „ | 1 | |
| „ „ five „ | 3 | |
| „ ,, SIX „ | 1 | |
| „ ;) seven „ | 1 | |
Isolation.—558, or 93.6 per cent, of the patients notified, were
removed to hospital for treatment.
Fatality,—The deaths from the disease, 17 in number, represent
a case mortality of 2.9 per cent., against 2.1, 2.7 and 3.0
per cent, in the three preceding years.
Return Cases.—Sixteen cases occurred within fourteen days
of the return of a child living in the same house, from hospital,
after recovery from a similar attack.
Distribution of Cases.
In Table XVI. will be found the number of cases notified in
each ward of the borough, and the following table shows the
proportional prevalence of scarlet fever in the several wards
during 1908 and the preceding ten years.