London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Kensington 1924

The annual report on the health of the Borough for the year1924

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Record of work carried out under the direction of the Council.

Table showing the work carried out during the six months (1st July to 31st December) in which the scheme was in operation :—

Number of cases notified40
Number of visits paid by Health Officers57
Number of cases nursed by the Staff of the Kensington District Nursing
Association34
Number of visits paid by the Staff of the Kensington District Nursing Association267
Number of cases in which the part time Medical Officer was consulted31

At the commencement of the working ot the scheme the part-time Medical Officer gave lectures
on treatment, etc., to the nurses of the Kensington District Nursing Association and Infant Welfare
Centres and to other Welfare workers. The Medical Superintendent of St Mary Abbot's Hospital
entered into co.operation with this officer, and arranged that the treatment prescribed by him
should be continued at the Hospital in respect of those cases under the Council's scheme admitted
to the Institution.
The year was, for experimental purposes, a very bad one. Few cases occurred and, therefore,
it is difficult to give any definite opinion as to results to be obtained by the working of the scheme
until there has been a further trial. Such records as there are, however, are very satisfactory.

Table showing deaths of infants under hve years ot age trom enteritis during the year 1924:— Before 1st July, 1924.

Number in St. Mary Abbot's Hospital7
Number in Baby Hospital1
Number in Queen Charlotte's Hospital2
Number in Children's Hospital, Paddington1
Number attended by private practitioners3
Total14
After 1st July, 1924.
Number in Children's Hospital, Great Ormond Street (not notified)2
Number attended by private medical practitioners and notified2
Number attended by private medical practitioner and not notified1
Total5

It will be seen that there was a large reduction in the number of fatal cases in the second half
of the year, but the outstanding feature is the complete absence of fatal cases in St. Mary Abbot's
Hospital during the last six months. This "is remarkable because for the same period in the
three preceding years the deaths from enteritis of children under one year of age in that institution
were 36, 7 and 19 respectively.
It is well.known that in the past a large number of patients who have been received in St.
Mary Abbot's Hospital have been admitted in a moribund condition and it would appear that
notification and the treatment received in their homes have had an influence in reducing the
mortality amongst infants admitted on account of enteritis.
It is satisfactory to be able to record that not one of the cases attended by the part time
Medical Officer and the nurses of the Kensington District Nursing Association or the Golborne
Centre nurse proved fatal.
Erysipelas.—Fifty.nine cases were notified during the year, 27 of which were removed to
hospital. The cases notified in the three preceding years were 82, 44 and 67. There were five
deaths from this cause, the deaths in the three previous years being 1, 1 and 4.
Other Notifiable Diseases.—With the exception of tuberculosis, which is dealt with in a
separate section, no notifiable infectious diseases, other than those to which reference has been
made, were notified during the year.
NON-NOTIFIABLE DISEASES.
Measles.—This disease caused 75 deaths during the year. The epidemic experienced in
Kensington in 1924 occurred in the first half of the year. There were 14 deaths in January, 17
in February, 16 in March, 22 in April, 4 in May, 2 in June, and not one in the remaining
six months of the year. Twenty-eight of the deaths occurred in the Golborne Ward, 25 in
Norland Ward, 8 in St. Charles Ward and 7 in Pembridge Ward. The remaining 7 occurred in
South Kensington, not one ward in the Borough escaping a death.
The ages of the victims of this disease are shown in the following table:—
Age in years 0—1 1 — 2 2—3 3—4 4—5 5 upwards
No. of deaths 17 26 9 14 2 7