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
Battersea 1913
Report on the health of the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea for the year 1913
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| Ward. | Population, estimated to middle 1913. | Diphtheria & Membranous Croup. | Erysipelas. | Scarlet Fever | Enteric Fever. | OphthalmiaNeon. | Puerperal Fever. | Polio-myelitis. | Cerebro-spinal Fever. | All Notifiable Infectious diseases. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Nine Elms) | 27,176 | 1.58 | .80 | 6.07 | .11 | .36 | .03 | .03 | .00 | 9.01 |
| (Park) | 17,486 | 2.00 | .97 | 4.34 | .05 | .22 | .00 | .05 | .05 | 7.72 |
| (Latchmere) | 20,158 | 1.83 | .44 | 6.84 | .04 | .24 | .09 | .00 | .00 | 9.52 |
| (Shaftesbury) | 15,992 | 1.18 | 1.25 | 5.31 | .00 | .12 | .00 | .06 | .00 | 7.94 |
| (Church) | 19,325 | 1.81 | .77 | 8.79 | .15 | .00 | .15 | .00 | .00 | 11.69 |
| (Winstanley) | 20,173 | 1.28 | 1.19 | 5.60 | .19 | .29 | .04 | .04 | .04 | 8.72 |
| (St. John) | 8,186 | 2.07 | .48 | 4.52 | .00 | .12 | .00 | .00 | .00 | 7.20 |
| (Bolingbroke) | 18,433 | 1.41 | .38 | 2.92 | .05 | .16 | .10 | .00 | .00 | 5.04 |
| (Broomwood) | 20,536 | .58 | .24 | 2.87 | .09 | .00 | .00 | .00 | .00 | 3.79 |
Small-pox.
No case of small-pox was notified in Battersea during 1913.
The number of cases of small-pox notified in the County of London
during the year was 4.
Contacts were watched on arrival within the Borough in connection
with small-pox cases that had occurred on board vessels
arriving from abroad. All such contacts were kept under observation
for a period of 16 days.
Scarlet Feyer.
The number of cases of scarlet fever notified in Battersea
during 1913 was 897. This was an increase of 110 per cent, over
that of 1912. In 1911, 325 cases were notified, the lowest number
ever previously recorded in Battersea. In 1912 the number of
cases notified was 427, an increase of 31 per cent, over that of
1911. In the Annual Report of 1912 it was stated "that there
are indications that the quinquennial wave of epidemic prevalence
had begun to rise, and we may probably look forward to a progressive
increase in incidence for the next two or three years."
That this forecast has been justified is evident from the great
increase in the number of scarlet fever cases notified in 1913, and
it is probable that a further increase may have to be recorded during
the ensuing year.
The tendency of scarlet fever to recur in quinquennial waves
of epidemic prevalence has been referred to in past Annual Reports.
In 1906, after a period of decline in incidence, a similar upward