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 1911
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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28
TUBERCULOSIS
The number of deaths from tuberculosis was 203, the death-rate being 1.18 per 1,000. The
mortality in the years 1901-1911 from phthisis, other tuberculous diseases, and all forms of tuberculosis
is expressed in the following table as the number of deaths per 100,000 persons living in the
periods to which the death-rates refer.
Tuberculosis in Kensington, 1901-1911.
| The Year. | Deaths from Phthisis per 100,000 persons living. | Deaths from other Tuberculous Disease per 100,000 persons. | Total deaths from Tuberculosis per 100,000 persons living. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 132 | 45 | 178 | ||
| 1902 | 125 | 51 | 176 | ||
| 1.903 | 120 | 42 | 162 | ||
| 1904 | 129 | 66 | 195 | ||
| 1905 | 114 | 42 | 156 | ||
| 1906 | 123 | 49 | 172 | ||
| 1907 | 100 | 52 | 152 | ||
| 1908 | 104 | 46 | 150 | ||
| 1909 | 97 | 40 | 137 | ||
| 1910 | 80 | 29 | 109 | ||
In the short space of twelve years the death-rate from tuberculosis has been practically halved:
or, to be precise, the number of deaths per 100,000 persons living has been reduced by 47 per cent.,
and has fallen from 194 in 1898 to 118 in 1911.
PHTHISIS.
In the year under notice the deaths from tuberculous phthisis, or pulmonary consumption,
numbered 155, and corresponded to a rate of 0.90 per 1,000 living. They were responsible for
76 per cent., or three-quarters of the total deaths from tuberculosis. Persons between the
ages of 15 and 45 years of age—that is to say, in the best working years of life—furnished more
than 56 per cent. of the total deaths, the mortality among males being considerable higher than
among females. The death-rate from phthisis in 1898 was 126 per 100,000 living; in the year under
notice the death-rate fell to 90. The difference between the two rates represents a reduction in the
mortality from consumption of 29 per cent. in 12 years; and if reference is made to the table given
above it will be seen that the death-rate in the year 1898 affords a fair standard for comparison,
being less than the rates recorded in 1901, and even so lately as in 1904.
It will be of interest to consider next in order the incidence of deaths from phthisis in 1911
upon the different Wards in the Borough as compared with the incidence in former years.
Unfortunately, tabulated records suitable for the purpose of this comparison have not been given in
the reports published prior to the year 1905; it has therefore been necessary to take the mean
annual number of deaths in 1905-6 as the earliest standard available.