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
Finsbury 1910
Annual report on the public health of Finsbury for the year 1910
This page requires JavaScript
Deaths in Children under 5 years—1901-1910.
| Year. | Measles. | Hooping Cough. | Small Pox. | Scarlet Fever. | Diphtheria. | Enteric Fever. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 45 | 37 | — | 11 | 24 | — |
| 1902 | 79 | 70 | 11 | 11 | 28 | — |
| 1903 | 67 | 47 | — | 6 | 6 | — |
| 1904 | 57 | 26 | 2 | 11 | 13 | — |
| 1905 | 30 | 31 | — | 14 | 9 | — |
| 1906 | 1·1 | 53 | — | 8 | 22 | — |
| 1907 | 43 | 43 | — | 11 | 15 | — |
| 1908 | 36 | 20 | — | 9 | 12 | — |
| 1909 | 86 | 51 | — | 9 | 13 | 1 |
| 1910 | 71 | 35 | — | 2 | 18 | — |
| Totals | 625 | 413 | 13 | 92 | 160 | 1 |
From this table it appears that the deaths in 10 years due to
scarlet fever, diphtheria, enteric fever and small pox all taken
together numbered 265, to hooping cough 413, to measles 625.
It becomes clear then that in children under 5 years measles kills
more than twice the number of children whose deaths are caused
by small pox, scarlet fever, diphtheria and typhoid all included.
Hooping cough is responsible for less deaths than measles and
causes a little more than one and a half times the number of deaths
accredited to the four remaining diseases.
These figures show the frightful ravage that is annually caused
amongst young children by measles and hooping cough—deaths due
to ignorance, carelessness, thoughtlessness and occasionally possibly
indifference. They demonstrate once more that both measles and
hooping cough are very dangerous and often fatal disorders.