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 1912
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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The following Table shows the number of disinfections carried out for various diseases during the year:—
Disinfection, 1912.
| Nature of Infection. | Rooms Disinfected. | Premises Disinfected. | Disinfections at Wood Lane. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scarlet Fever | 343 | 281 | 295 | |||
| Diphtheria | 215 | 166 | 160 | |||
| Enteric Fever | 15 | 12 | 13 | |||
| Measles | 77 | 50 | 3 | |||
| Consumption | 275 | 234 | 207 | |||
| Other Diseases | 94 | 68 | 108 | |||
| Totals | 1019 | 811 | 786 | |||
| Year. | Weight of Articles sent from Premises. | Number of Premises. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tons. | Cwts. | Qrs. | Lbs. | ||
| 1909 | 33 | 5 | 2 | 23 | 789 |
| 1910 | 27 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 638 |
| 1911 | 27 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 677 |
| 1912 | 32 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 786 |
The following number of articles was dealt with at the Wood Lane Disinfecting Station during the year:—
| Articles disinfected only | 11,103 |
| Articles disinfected and washed free of charge | 3,087 |
| Articles washed and charged for | 518 |
| Total articles dealt with in 1912 | 14,708 |
The Council have also undertaken to remove soiled dressings, free of charge, from St. Luke's
House, an institution receiving persons in the last stages of consumption, where adequate provision is
rot made for the destruction of surgical dressings. In accordance with the undertaking given,
drssings amounting to a total weight of 1 ton 10 cwts. have been removed from St. Luke's
House during the year and destroyed at Wood Lane.
VERMINOUS PERSONS.
In place of providing their own cleansing station, the Council have hitherto done no more
than make an arrangement with the Board of Guardians under which verminous persons could be
cleansed at the expense of the Council, at the Able-bodied Workhouse in Mary Place. The number
of persons cleansed under this arrangement has been a negligible quantity, and only amounted to
19 during the year 1912. In July, 1912, the use of the casual wards in Mary Place was discontinued
on their being transferred to the Metropolitan Asylums Board, and the Borough is now without
provision of any kind for the cleansing of verminous persons, although the inspections of the school
nurses show that large numbers of children whose clothes and bodies are verminous, attend the
elementary schools in Kensington. Should the Council erect their own station, the facilities offered
will become widely known to adults through the school children who are sent to be cleansed, and