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 1911
Report on the public health of Finsbury for the year 1911
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The particulars of cases in previous years are appended :— Diphtheria, 1901-1911.
| 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 | 28.5 | 3.5 |
| 1902 | 216 | 37 | 171 | 21.6 | 3.7 |
| 1903 | 119 | 12 | 10.1 | 12.0 | 1.2 |
| 1904 | 123 | 14 | 11.4 | 12 6 | 1.4 |
| 1905 | 126 | 11 | 8.7 | 13.1 | l.l |
| 1906 | 151 | 25 | 165 | 15.9 | 2.6 |
| 1907 | 127 | 15 | 11.8 | 13.6 | 1.6 |
| 1908 | 130 | 16 | 123 | 14.1 | |
| 1909 | 152 | 13 | 8.5 | 16.8 | 1.4 |
| 1910 | 126 | 19 | 15.1 | 14.1 | 2.1 |
| 1911 | 159 | 17 | 107 | 18.1 | 1.9 |
All the cases arc investigated, and the source, if possible, is
ascertained. The premises are inspected and notices served for
sanitary defects.
Out of 159 tenements visited in 1911, no less than 119, or 75
per cent., were found clean, free from vermin, and without sanitary
defects. In the remaining 40 houses, there were 14, or 8-8 per
cent., with defective drainage, or defective water closets.
The smallness of this percentage shows what little foundation
there is for the popular reference of every case of diphtheria to
faulty drainage.
Source.-In ten cases the disease had been contracted from
members of the same family already suffering from diphtheria,
in 8 other cases from previous cases in the same house or near
by. Eight patients were infected after they had been admitted to
hospital suffering from another disease.