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
Fulham 1926
Annual report of the Medical Officer of Health for the year 1926
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paralysis during these two years. Encephalitis lethargica
accounted for four deaths in 1925 and the same
number in 1926. The deaths from cerebro-spinal
meningitis increased from three to four.
Measles.—3,700 cases were notified during 1926,
compared with 589 in 1925, 1,692 in 1924, and 1,951
in 1923.
The epidemic commenced in November, 1925, assumed its maximum height during the following February, and gradually declined until it subsided in July. The number of cases reported during each month of the year is shown in the following table:—
| 1st Quarter. | 3rd Quarter. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 651 | July | 16 |
| February | 1,513 | August | 6 |
| March | 1,142 | September | 2 |
| April | 242 | October | 4 |
| May | 79 | November | 3 |
| June | 39 | December | 3 |
Males and females were affected in the proportion
of 1,980 to 1,720.
Regarding the ages of the cases notified, 2,029 were
in children under five, 1,527 in children between five
and 10, and the remainder in persons over 10 years
of age. Two of those affected were over 45 years
of age.
Forty-seven deaths were registered as due to measles
in 1926, compared with two in 1925. Of the 47 deaths
in 1926 all except one occurred in children under five
years of age. Nine were in infants under one year,
and 23, or nearly half of the total, occurred in children
between one and two years of age.
Regarding the case mortality, the percentage of
cases which proved fatal was 1.27, but 5.63 per cent,
of the children under two years who were affected died
of tne disease. The case mortality of the cases under
one year was approximately the same as in those