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
Battersea 1910
Report on the health of the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea for the year 1910
This page requires JavaScript
33
Milk as a factor in the spread of infection did not in a single
instance give rise to suspicion during 1910.
The following are the number and percentages to total cases of "return cases" of scarlet fever since 1905:-
| Total cases. | "Return" cases. | Per cent. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1905 | 801 | 23 | 2.87 | |||||||
| 1906 | 1,011 | 34 | 3.36 | |||||||
| 1907 | 922 | 47 | 5.09 | |||||||
| 1908 | 1,099 | 52 | 4.73 | |||||||
| 1909 | 702 | 45 | 6.41 | |||||||
| 1910 | 439 | 20 | 4.55 | |||||||
The number of cases sent back from hospital notified as scarlet
fever and in which the diagnosis was found to be erroneous was 47,
or 10 per cent., as compared with 4.2 per cent. in 1909.
No legal proceedings were taken for contravention of the infectious
disease provisions of the Public Health (London) Act,
1891, in regard to scarlet fever.
Diphtheria.
The number of diphtheria cases notified during 1910 (including
membranous croup) in the Borough of Battersea was 209, a considerable
decrease as compared with the four preceding years, when
the numbers were: In 1906, 251; in 1907, 315; in 1908, 340; in
1909, 265.
Twelve deaths were registered from the disease in the Borough,
giving a fatality rate of 0.06 per 1,000 population, which was equal
to the lowest death-rate previously recorded in the old Parish or
Borough of Battersea.
The distribution of the disease in the three registration sub-districts of the Borough together with the number of deaths among both hospital and home-treated patients during 1910 is shown in the following table:—
| Registration Sub-Districts. | No. of cases notified. | Cases treated at home. | Cases removed to hospital. | No. of Deaths. | Case-mortality per cent. | Case-rate per 1,000 population. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| At home. | At hospital. | Total. | ||||||
| East Battersea | 93 | 4 | 89 | - | 4 | 4 | 4.3 | 1.19 |
| North-West Battersea | 53 | 1 | 52 | - | 2 | 2 | 3.7 | 1.07 |
| South-West Battersea | 63 | 11 | 52 | - | 6 | 6 | 9.5 | 1.03 |