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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56
The time has now arrived when the nomenclature of enteritis should be considered by the
medical profession as a whole, and until this is done it will be very difficult to deal with zymotic
enteritis statistically in a satisfactory manner.
The death rates of children under two years of age per thousand births from enteritis and diarrhoea (these terms are not defined, but undoubtedly the majority of the deaths are due to zymotic enteritis or Summer diarrhoea) in Kensington, London and England and Wales during the past six years are shown in the following table:—
| Year | Kensington | London | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 | 35.2 | 21.3 | 15.5 |
| 1922 | 9.8 | 7.1 | 6.2 |
| 1923 | 15. 1 | 10.2 | 7.7 |
| 1924 | 6.4 | 8.4 | 7.3 |
| 1925 | 10.9 | 10.6 | 8.4 |
| 1926 | 13.2 | 11.8 | 8.7 |
It is not practicable to give comparative statistics for Kensington and other parts of the country
for earlier years ; but the following table shows the number of deaths of infants under one year of
age in Kensington in each year since 1900, together with the number due to enteritis and diarrhoea
and the percentage of the total due to these complaints. (The deaths include those from'all forms
of enteritis, but undoubtedly the majority are due to the zymotic type).
KENSINGTON.
| Year | No. of deaths of infants under one year of age | No. dueto enteritis and diarrhœa | Percentage due to enteritis and diarrhœa |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 641 | 80 | 12.5 |
| 1901 | 581 | 91 | 15.6 |
| 1902 | 505 | 58 | 11.4 |
| 1903 | 510 | 75 | 14.7 |
| 1904 | 503 | 109 | 21.6 |
| 1905 | 498 | 65 | 13.0 |
| 1906 | 452 | 92 | 20.3 |
| 1907 | 433 | 21 | 4.8 |
| 1908 | 420 | 64 | 15.2 |
| 1909 | 379 | 50 | 13.2 |
| 1910 | 345 | 28 | 8.1 |
| 1911 | 435 | 123 | 28.2 |
| 1912 | 305 | 32 | 10.4 |
| 1913 | 371 | 62 | 16.7 |
| 1914 | 298 | 47 | 15.7 |
| 1915 | 365 | 50 | 13.7 |
| 1916 | 258 | 32 | 12.4 |
| 1917 | 309 | 48 | 15.5 |
| 1918 | 224 | 36 | 16.0 |
| 1919 | 270 | 71 | 26.3 |
| 1920 | 325 | 64 | 19.6 |
| 1921 | 363 | 87 | 23.9 |
| 1922 | 257 | 24 | 9.3 |
| 1923 | 218 | 44 | 20.1 |
| 1924 | 219 | 18 | 7.1 |
| 1925 | 223 | 22 | 9.8 |
| 1926 | 164 | 30 | 18.3 |
It will be seen that a very considerable percentage of the infantile deaths are due to enteritis
and diarrhoea.
In the year 1924, zymotic enteritis received the careful consideration of the Council and it was
concluded that further progress could be made in preventive work if the Council's Officers had
more precise knowledge enabling them to locate all cases of the disease, to trace their origin and to
watch the lines of the spread of infection during the Summer months. As this knowledge can best
be obtained by notification, the Council resolved that zymotic enteritis in children under the age of
five years should be made a notifiable disease in the Borough.
The Minister of Health having given his approval, the disease became compulsorily notifiable in
Kensington on July 1st, 1924. (It is notifiable in seven other Boroughs in London).
With better knowledge it is possible to take effective steps with regard to prevention and
treatment of the disease, and for this purpose the Council put a scheme into operation on the date
the disease became notifiable.