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 1931
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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| Four Weeks ending | Small pox. | Scarlet fever | Diphtheria. | Enteric fever. | Erysipelas. | Ophthalmia neonatorum. | Puerperal fever. | Puerperal pyrexia. | Pneumonia. | Malaria. | Encephalitis lethargica. | Acute rheumatism. | Cerebro spinal meningitis. | Dysentery. | Enteritis. | Total. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 31 | – | 27 | 14 | – | 2 | – | – | 4 | 46 | – | – | 10 | – | 1 | 4 | 108 |
| February 28 | – | 31 | 29 | – | 5 | – | – | 5 | 52 | – | – | 4 | – | 3 | 1 | 130 |
| March 28 | – | 23 | 18 | 1 | 9 | 1 | _ | 4 | 24 | __ | _ | 6 | 2 | – | – | 88 |
| April 25 | 1 | 23 | 15 | – | 2 | 1 | – | 2 | 17 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 2 | 65 |
| May 23 | – | 23 | 16 | 4 | 4 | – | 8 | 6 | 10 | – | – | 5 | 1 | — | 2 | 74 |
| June 20 | – | 22 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 1 | _ | 7 | 7 | 1 | – | 3 | 1 | – | 4 | 65 |
| July 18 | – | 20 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 1 | – | 6 | 5 | – | – | 8 | – | 2 | 3 | 60 |
| August 15 | – | 19 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 7 | _ | – | _ | 1 | 1 | 5 | 55 |
| Sept. 12 | – | 24 | 19 | 2 | 8 | 1 | _ | 4 | 8 | _ | _ | 1 | _ | – | 6 | 73 |
| October 10 | _ | 34 | 21 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 13 | _ | _ | 1 | – | – | 7 | 93 |
| November 7 | – | 53 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 1 | – | 6 | 31 | _ | – | _ | – | 1 | 3 | 121 |
| December 5 | – | 45 | 17 | 1 | 8 | 2 | – | 6 | 21 | _ | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 114 |
| January 2 | 1 | 41 | 17 | 1 | 5 | 2 | – | 1 | 12 | — | – | 4 | – | 1 | 3 | 88 |
| Totals | 2 | 385 | 222 | 16 | 61 | 13 | 8 | 61 | 253 | 1 | 1 | 46 | 7 | 17 | 41 | 1,134 |
Cases of mistaken diagnosis are excluded from the above table.
* One case of puerperal pyrexia was subsequently notified as puerperal fever and is included under both headings.
A table, showing the number of cases of infectious disease notified in the various age periods,
notified in the various wards, and admitted to hospital, and the deaths from these diseases during
the year, will be found in Appendix II on page 71 of this report.
Smallpox.—During 1931 there was a large decrease in the number of smallpox cases notified
in London. One thousand four hundred and fifty-two cases occurred in the metropolitan area,
as compared with 5,152 in the previous year. There were only two deaths from this disease in
London during the year. Twenty-five of the 29 metropolitan boroughs were affected.
Two cases of smallpox were notified in Kensington and both occurred in private houses in the
northern part of the borough. The first case was that of a child aged 13 years, who attended a
secondary school in Willesden and normally lived with her aunt in that district. She came to stay
with her mother in Kensington for the Christmas holiday, developed smallpox and was removed
to hospital. The patient recovered. The second case was that of a male resident aged 54 years.
He was removed to hospital and subsequently recovered.
The contacts in each case were urged to be vaccinated or revaccinated as a precautionary
measure if it had not already been carried out. All vaccinations and revaccinations were performed
by the public vaccinators.
During the year many Kensington residents had been in contact with cases in other districts,
and also several came to live in the borough who had been in contact with cases on board ships.
These contacts were kept under daily observation until all possibility of developing the disease had
disappeared. The object of repeatedly visiting these contacts is to secure prompt isolation before
the patient becomes infectious in the event of smallpox developing.
The total number of contacts kept under observation during the year was 239.
Scarlet Fever.—The number of cases notified during the year was 415, of which 375 were
removed to hospital.
The following table shows the number of cases notified in the various wards in each four-weekly period during 1931:—
| District. | Period No. 1. | Period No. 2. | Period No. 3. | Period No. 4. | Period No. 5. | Period No. 6. | Period No. 7. | Period No. 8. | Period No 9. | Period No. 10. | Period No. 11. | Period No. 12. | Period No. 13. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London. | 888 | 946 | 838 | 813 | 858 | 728 | 851 | 851 | 800 | 1.228 | 1,319 | 1,121 | 920 |
| The Borough | 27 | 31 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 20 | 19 | 24 | 34 | 53 | 45 | 41 |
| North Kensington | 21 | 25 | 15 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 14 | 20 | 29 | 43 | 38 | 28 |
| South Kensington | 6 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 13 |
| Wards. | |||||||||||||
| St. Charles | 5 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 24 | 20 | 15 |
| Golborne | 6 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| Norland | 7 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 5 |
| Pembridge | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| Holland | 2 | 3 | 2 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | 3 | – | 2 |
| Earl's Court | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| Queen's Gate | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 3 | 3 | – |
| Redcliffe | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Brompton | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | – | – | 1 |
Cases of mistaken diagnosis are excluded from the above table.