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
Kensington 1926
The annual report on the health of the Borough for the year1926
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Table showing Notifications of certain Infectious Diseases received in 1922-26.
| Year. | Scarlet Fever | Diphtheria. | Enteric Fever. | Erysipelas. | Ophthalmia Neonatorum. | Puer. peral Fever. | Puerperal Pyrexia. | Pneumonia. | Malaria. | Encephalitis Lethargica. | P. M'uis & Polio Encephalitis. | Smal-pox. | cerebro spinal Meningitis. | Dysentery. | *Enter itis. | Total. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1922 | 471 | 403 | 18 | 44 | 20 | 10 | † | 186 | 4 | 4 | 2 | – | 2 | – | * | 1164 |
| 1923 | 205 | 223 | 12 | 67 | 21 | 15 | † | 125 | 5 | 3 | 5 | – | – | – | * | 681 |
| 1924 | 281 | 188 | 29 | 59 | 14 | 5 | † | 157 | 3 | 21 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 40* | 813 |
| 1925 | 224 | 259 | 25 | 58 | 14 | 5 | † | 138 | 2 | 12 | 1 | – | 8 | 1 | 122 | 864 |
| 1926 | 264 | 391 | 28 | 69 | 15 | 9 | 11 | 145 | 2 | 5 | 4 | – | 2 | – | 97 | 1042 |
Cases of mistaken diagnosis are excluded from the above table.
† Puerperal Pyrexia became notifiable on October 1st, 1926.
*Zymotic Enteritis in children under 5 years of age became notifiable in Kensington on July 1st, 1924. The other London
Boroughs in which this disease is notifiable are Fulham, Finsbury, Poplar, Southwark, Deptford, Greenwich and
Woolwich.
Table showing Cases of Infectious Diseases occurring in 1926, arranged in Four-Weekly Periods.
| Four Weeks ending | Scarlet Fever. | Diphtheria. | Enteric Fever. | Erysipelas. | Ophthalmia Neonatorum. | Puerperal Fever. | Puerperal Pyrexia.† | Pneumonia. | Malaria. | Encephalitis Lethargica. | P. M'itis & PolioEncephalitis. | Small-pox. | Cerebro spinal Meningitis. | Dysentery. | Enteritis. | Total. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 30 | 14 | 24 | – | 7 | 2 | – | – | 8 | – | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | 3 | 60 |
| February 27 | 17 | 32 | 2 | 8 | 2 | – | – | 10 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 | 76 |
| March 27 | 10 | 33 | 2 | 4 | – | – | – | 8 | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | 1 | 59 |
| April 24 | 18 | 31 | 6 | 6 | – | – | – | 24 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 85 |
| May 22 | 18 | 33 | – | 11 | 1 | 1 | – | 17 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 83 |
| June 19 | 28 | 27 | 4 | 8 | 1 | – | – | 12 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 17 | 93 |
| July 17 | 33 | 27 | 6 | 5 | 2 | – | – | 15 | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | 11 | 101 |
| August 14 | 27 | 23 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | – | 6 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | 18 | 83 |
| Sept. 11 | 11 | 20 | 3 | 6 | – | – | – | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 9 | 56 |
| October 9 | 25 | 24 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 9 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 30 | 106 |
| November 6 | 14 | 27 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 11 | – | – | 1 | – | – | –– | 4 | 69 |
| December 4 | 21 | 34 | – | 3 | 1 | – | 4 | 11 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 74 |
| January 1 | 25 | 56 | – | 1 | – | 2 | 2 | 10 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 97 |
| Totals | 264 | 391 | 28 | 69 | 15 | 9 | †11 | 145 | 2 | 5 | 4 | – | 2 | – | 97 | 1042 |
Cases of mistaken diagnosis are excluded from the above Table,
† Puerperal Pyrexia became notifiable on October 1st, 1926.
Small Pox.— No case of small pox occurred in the Borough during the year. There were,
however, two cases in St. Marylebone, one in Lambeth, one in Islington, and one in St. Pancras.
A. number of persons who had been in contact with cases of small pox in various parts of the
country or on board ship came into the Borough during the period in which they might possibly
have been incubating the disease. In every case these contacts were visited at once and urged to
be vaccinated if this precautionary measure had not already been adopted. Daily visits were
continued to these persons until the extreme possible period of incubation had expired. The object
of the visits is to secure prompt isolation before the patient becomes infectious in the event of any
suspicious illness developing.
Scarlet Fever.— The number of cases notified during the year was 298, of which 27??? were
removed to hospital.
The following table shows the number of cases notified in the various wards in each four-weekly period during 1926.
| District. | Period No. 1. | Period No. 2. | Period No. 3. | Period No. 4. | Period No. 5. | Period No. 6. | Period No. 7. | Period No. 8. | Period No. 9. | Period No. 10. | Period No. 11 | Period No. 12. | Period No. 13. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 969 | 1005 | 927 | 903 | 981 | 958 | 1035 | 741 | 701 | 1001 | 1122 | 1125 | 894 |
| The Borough | 14 | 18 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 31 | 33 | 34 | 14 | 32 | 14 | 21 | 33 |
| North Kensington | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 16 | 21 | 24 | 28 | 10 | 24 | 9 | 19 | 21 |
| South Kensington | 4 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 12 |
| Wards. | |||||||||||||
| St. Charles | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 11 | 9 |
| Golborne | 6 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 4 | – | 7 |
| Norland | 2 | 2 | 1 | – | 2 | 7 | 12 | 11 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Pembridge | – | 1 | – | 3 | 2 | 2 | – | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Holland | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | 4 |
| Earl's Court | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | – | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | 3 |
| Queen's Gate | – | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | 2 | 1 | 1 | – |
| Redcliffe | 1 | 2 | – | 2 | 1 | 6 | 3 | – | 1 | 2 | 3 | – | 4 |
| Brompton | 1 | – | – | 2 | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 1 |
Cases of mistaken diagnosis are not excluded from the above Table.