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
Finsbury 1909
Report on the public health of Finsbury 1909 including annual report on factories and workshops
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Most of these cases occurred between the ages of one and fifteen
years—nearly all the deaths were in children between one and five
years. At this age they are less prone to complain of discomfort
and the less able intelligently to explain how, when and where
they feel unwell, so that the disease may make much headway
before it first receives medical attention.
The cases in previous years are given here:— DIPHTHERIA SINCE 1901.
| Year. | No. of Cases. | No. of Deaths. | Case Mortality No. of Deaths per 100 cases notified. | No. of Cases per 10,000 of Population. | No. of Deaths per 10,000 of Population. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 289 | 36 | 12. 5 | 28.4 | 3.5 |
| 1902 | 216 | 37 | 171 | 21.1 | 36 |
| 1903 | 119 | 12 | 10.1 | 11 8 | 1.2 |
| 1904 | 123 | 14 | 11.4 | 12.4 | 1.4 |
| 1905 | 126 | 11 | 87 | 128 | 1.1 |
| 1906 | 151 | 25 | 165 | 15.5 | 2.5 |
| 1907 | 127 | 15 | 11 8 | 12.7 | 1.5 |
| 1908 | 130 | 16 | 12.3 | 13.5 | 1 .6 |
| 1909 | 152 | 13 | 8.5 | 15.9 | 1.6 |
Whenever a case occurs in a house, a careful sanitary survey is
made of the premises and the source of infection elucidated or
inquired into.
The following defects were thus found in the houses where the
152 cases occurred:—
Dirty rooms (13), verminous rooms (2), yard dirty (1), staircases
and passages dirty and dilapidated (2), defective drains (7),
w.c. pan broken (2), w.c. choked (2), w.c. insufficient flush (3),
soil pipe broken (1), defective sink waste (1), dirty water cisterns
(2), yard gulley choked (1), dustbins broken and absent (2'),
yard pavement broken (1), stinking accumulation of refuse in
back yard, one instance.