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 1913
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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15
THE INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
For administrative purposes the epidemic infectious diseases are divided into two classes, those
which the householder is obliged by law to notify to the Medical Officer of Health, and those which are
not compulsorily notifiable. In Kensington the following diseases are compulsorily notifiable:—
Small Pox. Typhus Fever.
Plague. Relapsing Fever.
Cholera. Puerperal Fever.
Diphtheria. Cerebro-spinal Fever.
Erysipelas. Glanders.
Scarlet Fever. Anthrax.
Typhoid or Enteric Fever. Hydrophobia.
Acute Poliomyelitis. Ophthalmia Neonatorum.
SMALL POX.
No case of small pox occurred in Kensington during the year; 4 cases in all were notified in
the Metropolis, and of this number 2 occurred in Poplar and 1 each in St. Marylebone and
Southwark.
DIPHTHERIA.
Dunne the year 124 cases of diphtheria were notified and of these 7 proved fatal.
The seasonal incidence of diphtheria, with that of scarlet fever and enteric fever is illustrated by the subjoined Table:—
| Report for four weeks ended | No.of Notifications. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Diphtheria. | Scarlet Fever. | Enteric Fever. | |
| January25 | 9 | 28 | 1 |
| February 22 | 4 | 25 | 1 |
| March 22 | 11 | 27 | 0 |
| April 19 | 10 | 9 | 0 |
| May 17 | 10 | 30 | 1 |
| June 14 | 9 | 26 | 1 |
| July 12 | 5 | 29 | 6 |
| August 9 | 5 | 45 | 3 |
| September 6 | 4 | 32 | 1 |
| October 4 | 21 | 49 | 3 |
| November 1 | 8 | 69 | 7 |
| November 29 | 18 | 95 | 1 |
| January 3, 1914 (five weeks) | 10 | 88 | 2 |
| 124 | 552 | 27 | |
The increased prevalence of diphtheria in September and November coincided with the
autumnal rise in the number of notifications throughout the country. The year was remarkable
for the absence of epidemic outbreaks. Thus three, as the maximum number of cases occurring
in the same elementary or private school in one calendar month, was only recorded in one instance.
In three houses the occurrence of multiple cases was noted: in the first house three patients were
notified; in each of the remaining two houses, two patients were notified. In no other private
or tenement house or residential institution was more than one case reported. In one family 2
patients were notified, in another three; and these were the only two families in the Borough in
which more than one case of diphtheria occurred. Anti-toxin was administered at the Council's
expense to two diphtheria patients, and to two persons suspected to be suffering from diphtheria.
The Council no longer pay for the preventive treatment of healthy contacts with anti-toxin, an
alteration in procedure which appears to be fully justified by the rarity of multiple cases in
infected households. Bacteriological reports on 105 cases of suspected diphtheria were furnished
free of charge to medical practitioners, the diphtheria bacillus being found in 28 of the specimens
examined. This work is carried out at the Lister Institute and paid for by the Borough Council.
In 18 houses where diphtheria occurred, defects in the drainage system were reported and
remedied at the instance of the sanitary inspector for the district.