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
Hackney 1913
Report on the sanitary condition of the Hackney District for the year 1913
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37
9 on the number of genuine cases notified during 1912. The
attack-rate for 1913 is, therefore, "14 per 1,000 living.
Of the 39 cases notified, 34 were removed to hospital. This
is equal to 87 per cent. of the total notified. It will be seen from
the chart that the bulk of the cases occurred during the last five
months of the year.
The table below gives the distribution of the notified cases in the sub-districts of the Borough
| Sub-Districts. | North. | Central. | South-West. | South-East. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of Cases of Typhoid. | 8 | 8 | 3 | 20 |
| Attack-rate per 1,000 living. | .14 | .14 | .05 | .35 |
From this table it is evident that most of the cases occurred
in the south-east sub-district.
Amongst the above cases were 6 which occurred amongst the
members of one family. This family consisted of the father, a
worker in a saw mill, mother, engaged at home in domestic affairs,
and 6 children. The family occupied a tenement of three rooms.
The following gives in tabular form the circumstances of the six
cases.
Enquiries as to the source of infection in the first case, that
of Henry R., did not reveal anything definite. Fried fish had been
consumed as well as watercress, by Henry and other members
of the family, but these articles had been obtained from various
sources, and they had been consumed by the parents as well as
the children.
The cases occurring subsequent to Henry appear to me,
considering the necessarily close association of the members of
the family in a three-roomed tenement, to have arisen by contact
infection from Henry. Arthur and Ernest slept in the same bed