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It will be seen that 46, or '21 per cent., of the '218 infant deaths were due to enteritis. As there
has been no obligation on doctors or parents to report cases of this complaint, it has happened only
by chance that children suffering from the disease have been discovered by officers of the Public
Health Department; indeed, the first information obtained in many cases is on the receipt of a
copy of the death certificate from the Registrar of Deaths.
The Council have recently obtained an Order under the Public Health (London) Act, 1891,
which makes zymotic enteritis or infectious diarrhoea in children under the age of 5 years a
notifiable infectious disease. After this Order comes into operation in the Summer of 1924, many
casts of the disease will be brought to the notice of the Medical Officer of Health at an early stage
of illness with the result that a Woman Health Officer can visit the home to arrange for such
nursing and other assistance as may be required. It is hoped that the notification of this disease
will enable certain forms of treatment to be adopted in poor homes which will help to relieve
suffering and to reduce the mortality from enteritis.
DEATHS OF INFANTS UNDER ONE YEAR OF AGE PER 1,000 BIRTHS IN
DIFFERENT TYPES OF HOUSES.
As pneumonia, bronchitis and enteritis were responsible for approximately half of the infant
deaths in 1923, it will be interesting to see how the rates for these diseases vary in accordance with
the types of houses occupied by the families in which the deaths occurred.
In the following table, a dwelling occupied by one family only, or which has been converted
into self-contained flats or maisonettes, is classed as a "private house." The number of these in
the Borough is approximately 19,250.
A "tenement house" is one let in lodgings to more than one family without being specially
adapted for the purpose. Of the 5,690 houses of this class in the Borough, 2,428 are on the
Register of Houses let in Lodgings and, consequently, are subject to the Council's by-laws.
A "mews dwelling" is a habitation with generally one to three rooms situated over a stable and
coach-house. In the majority of cases in South Kensington and some in North Kensington, the
stables and coach-houses have been converted into garages. The occupants of mews dwellings vary
in type, some are respectable and careful people, whilst others belong to the most careless and
indifferent members of the community. There are 2,091 mews dwellings in the Borough.
Deaths of Infants from
All Causes
Deaths of Infants from
Pneumonia and Bronchitis
Deaths of Infants from
Enteritis
Boro.
N. Ken.
S. Ken
Boro.
N. Ken.
S. Ken.
Boro.
N. Ken.
S. Ken.
Private Houses—
Births 735 345 390 735 345 390 735 345 390
Infant Deaths 33 20 13 2 2 — 8 3 5
„ Death Rates 45 58 33 3 6 — 11 9 13
Tenement Houses—
Births 2,048 1,711 337 2,048 1,711 337 2,048 1,711 337
Infant Deaths 169 151 18 54 54 — 36 34 2
Death Rates 82 88 53 26 31 — 17 20 6
Mews Dwellings—
Births 140 59 81 140 59 81 140 59 81
Infant Deaths 16 14 2 2 1 2 2 —
Death Rates 114 237 24 14 17 12 14 34 —
The table shows clearly the high death rates in tenement and mews dwellings as compared
with private houses, and it will be noted that the death rate of infants in mews dwellings in North
Kensington is more than twice as great as any other rate shown in the table.
Before any conclusions are arrived at as to the effect of housing conditions upon the infant
death rate, consideration must be given to the fact that negligent, careless, ignorant and povertystricken
parents generally drift into the worst type of tenement houses and mews dwellings.
The year 1923 is the third in succession in which there has not been an infant death from
enteritis in a South Kensington mews dwelling.
There are very few horses kept in the South Kensington mews, with the result that there is
practically no storage of manure on which flies can breed, and this is probably the reason for the
absence of enteritis deaths in the mews dwellings in that half of the Borough.
ABOVE STANDARD DEATHS.
In almost every area there is a number of infant births and deaths occurring in those betterclass
homes where it is reasonable to assume that the children receive every care and all