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
Camberwell 1924
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Camberwell.
This page requires JavaScript
13
SECTION 3,
NOTIFIABLE INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
Diphtheria.
The number of cases notified was 831. Of these 813 were
admitted to isolation hospitals. This is a decrease of 44 in the
number of cases notified during 1923. 21 cases were returned
from the hospitals of the Metropolitan Asylums Board certified
as not suffering from diphtheria. There were 42 deaths.
Deaths from Diphtheria in the Borough from the Year 1919.
| Year. | No. of Notifications. | No. of Deaths. |
|---|---|---|
| 1919 | 483 | 35 |
| 1920 | 937 | 62 |
| 1921 | 875 | 64 |
| 1922 | 821 | 63 |
| 1923 | 875 | 72 |
| 1924 | 831 | 42 |
It is very significant to find, on examining the ages of the
children attacked, that of 224 children notified between 3 and 5
years 98 were attending school.
All patients who have suffered from this disease are visited
on their return from hospital, and if a child is found with a
discharge from the nose or ear, or there is any reason to suspect
that the case is still infectious, the mother is advised to take the
child to her own doctor, or to bring it to the Public Health
Department. 188 swabs were taken at the Public Health Department during the year, and 11 were found to be positive.
112 units diphtheria anti-toxin were issued free of charge by
the Public Health Department during the year. Of this amount
42 units, in phials of 500 units, were issued for prophylactic
purposes.
The value of diphtheria anti-toxin as a protection against
diphtheria has long been proved, and one would naturally think
that by this time the public, when exposed to infection of this
disease, would demand protection. The fear of the hypodermic
needle is the chief reason for such neglect to take advantage of
prophylactic treatment. Progressive teaching and propaganda
may, in the course of time, overcome this prejudice, but until it
has been broken down there is not much hope for a reduction in
the amount of diphtheria in the Borough to be brought about by
passive immunisation by means of anti-toxin or active immunisation by toxin anti-toxin.
In response to the request of the Ministry of Health to
provide data relating to the influence of domestic overcrowding
upon the incidence of notifiable infectious diseases, an attempt
has been made in the following tables to analyse all cases of