London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Kensington 1929

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]

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In addition to the action taken by the school medical service special instructions have been
issued to head teachers and the school attendance staff to report immediately any cases or
suspicious cases coming to their knowledge.
For the purpose of obtaining the co-operation of the parents the head teachers of schools
in the areas affected will be supplied by the borough medical officers of health with advice leaflets
for distribution through the school organisation.
Under the scheme it has also been arranged that borough medical officers of health
will report to the head teachers any cases of measles occurring in houses occupied by children
attending the County Council's schools, which are discovered by health visitors, etc., or at
infant welfare centres, sunday schools, etc., particulars of which have not been received and
the existence of which is, therefore, presumably not known at the schools concerned.
In addition, the school nurses will confer with the health visitors of the borough council
who will undertake the visitation of suspicious absentees reported by the school nurses.
At the time of writing this report the scheme is in operation and is working very
satisfactorily.
There were two deaths from measles in Kensington during the year as compared with fiftynine
in the preceding year. The women health officers paid 286 visits to measles patients,
Fifty-one cases were removed to the Metropolitan Asylums Board hospitals.
Whooping Cough.—There were sixty-five deaths from this cause. The deaths in the three
preceding years were 8, 20 and 10. The women health officers paid 486 visits to cases of this
disease during the year. The number of cases admitted to hospitals of the Metropolitan Asylums
Board from Kensington was. one hundred and thirty-six.
TUBERCULOSIS.
During the year 188 cares of pulmonary tuberculosis and 53 cases of non-pulmonary
tuberculosis were notified.

The following table shows the number of cases of both forms of the disease notified in the Borough and the several Wards therein during each year since 1920.

District.Years.
1920.1921.1922.1923.1924.1925.1926.19271928.1929.
The Borough407374339403314292317252276241
North Kensington294272233267228207227166179156
South Kensington113102106136868590869785
Wards.
St. Charles70664861455250394839
Golborne88898086655669535741
Norland93807685756759444943
Pembridge43372935433249302533
Holland36292826302720112520
Earl's Court25242428131825252021
Queen's Gate1515202217131510117
Redcliffe25192341151822252625
Brompton121511191198151512

The number of cases of tuberculosis notified during 1929 was the smallest since compulsory
notification of this disease was introduced in 1912.
Medical practitioners are reporting cases at an earlier stage of the disease than was the case
several years ago, but the following figures show that some improvement in this respect is still
desirable in order that the Council's machinery for the prevention of the spread of infection may
be put into operation at the earliest possible moment:—
(1) No. of deaths in Kensington from all forms of tuberculosis in 1929 137
(2) No. of persons dying unnotified or notified at death 44
(3) No. notified within one month before death 14
(4) No. notified within three months before death (excluding those under heading 3) 16
(5) No. notified within six months before death (excluding those under headings 3
and 4) 14