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
Limehouse 1898
Report on the sanitary condition of the Limehouse District (comprising the Parishes of Limehouse, Shadwell, and Wapping, and the Hamlet of Ratcliff) for the year 1898
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| Diseases. | Total. | Under One Year. | Above one Year. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breast. | Artificial. | Breast. | Artificial. | Family gone away. | ||
| Meningitis | 11 | 6 | 3 | 1 | - | 1 |
| Prematurity | 6 | 5 | 1 | - | - | - |
| Tuberculosis | 15 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | |
| Tabes Mesenterica | 6 | 4 | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| Rickets | 2 | - | 2 | — | - | |
| Hydrocephalus | 3 | 1 | - | — | - | 2 |
| Whooping Cough | 18 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Skin Disease | 1 | 1 | - | — | - | - |
| Thrush | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| Abscess of Thigh | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Suffocation in bed with the parents | 7 | 3 | 1 | - | - | 3 |
| Accute inflammation of the stomach due to improper feeding | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Convulsions due to improper feeding | 1 | - | - | 1 | ||
| Cirrhosis of Liver | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Malnutrition | 1 . | - | - | - | 1 | |
| Measles | 1 . | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Cellulitis of Scalp | 1 . | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Collapse of Lung | 1 . | - | - | - | 1 | |
| 351 | 104 | 130 | 22 | 10 | 85 | |
Refused to supply information, 4.
In the preceding Tables I have only represented the mode
of bringing up the infants, and the diseases to which they ultimately
succumbed. Besides the mode of feeding the infants,
other conditions exist, which perhaps influence and undoubtedly
modify this factor in infant life. During the last year I have
made careful inquiries into other causes that may have operated
in producing this high infantile mortality, and I have come to
the conclusion that the factors which enter into its causation are
numerous and complex. In many instances it is difficult and
almost impossible to determine which factor predominated as
the predisposing agent in the death of the child.
I have felt it would be of great value if we could decide to
what extent these conditions could be improved by means of