London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Kensington 1938
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
This page requires JavaScript
| Four Weeks ending | Small-pox. | Scarlet fever. | Diphtheria. | Enteric fever. | Ery sipelas. | Ophthalmia neonatorum. | Puerperal fever. | Puerperal pyrexia. | Pneumonia. | Polio myelitis. | Acute rheumatism. | Cerebro spinal meningitis. | Dysentery. | Enteritis. | Totals. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 29 | – | 19 | 11 | 3 | 3 | - | – | 3 | 14 | - | 2 | 1 | 17 | 3 | 76 |
| February 26 | – | 15 | 18 | 1 | 6 | l | – | 1 | 6 | – | 9 | 3 | 22 | 7 | 89 |
| March 26 | – | 23 | 13 | – | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 21 | – | 4 | – | 10 | 8 | 86 |
| April 23 | – | 22 | 12 | – | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | – | 3 | – | 12 | 5 | 70 |
| May 21 | – | 16 | 11 | 1 | 7 | 5 | – | 7 | 4 | – | 8 | – | 4 | 5 | 68 |
| June 18 | – | 18 | 17 | 1 | 2 | - | 1 | 3 | 8 | - | 9 | – | 5 | 3 | 67 |
| July 16 | –_ | 25 | 13 | – | 4 | - | 2 | 4 | 2 | – | 1 | – | 3 | 7 | 61 |
| August 13 | – | 14 | 13 | 1 | 4 | – | – | – | 4 | – | – | – | – | 2 | 38 |
| September 10 | – | 12 | 4 | – | 1 | – | – | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | – | 3 | 1 | 33 |
| October 8 | – | 20 | 4 | 1 | 5 | – | – | 3 | 6 | 1 | – | – | – | 2 | 42 |
| November 5 | – | 29 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 2 | – | 1 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 71 |
| December 3 | – | 18 | 13 | – | 5 | – | 1 | 2 | 12 | – | 3 | – | 2 | 2 | 58 |
| December 31 | – | 7 | 15 | 1 | 5 | - | – | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2 | – | 4 | 1 | 45 |
| Totals | – | 238 | 156 | 14 | 49 | 11 | 6 | 36 | 98 | 6 | 49 | 6 | 85 | 50 | 804 |
Cases of mistaken diagnosis are excluded from the above table.
| Notifiable Disease. | Number of cases notified | Total cases notified in each ward. | Cases admitted to hospital. | Total deaths. | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| At all ages | At ages.—Years. | St. Charles. | Golborne. | Norland. | Pembridge. | Holland. | Earl's Court. | Queen's Gate. | Redcliffe. | Brompton. | ||||||||||||||
| Under 1. | 1 to 2. | 2 to 3. | 3 to 4. | 4 to 5. | 5 to 10. | 10 to 15. | 15 to 20. | 20 to 35. | 35 to 45. | 45 to 65. | 65 and over. | |||||||||||||
| Smallpox | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Scarlet fever | 238 | – | 6 | 10 | 19 | 20 | 95 | 37 | 13 | 25 | 8 | 5 | – | 83 | 40 | 30 | 34 | 17 | 15 | 5 | 11 | 3 | 223 | — |
| Diphtheria (including membranous croup) | 156 | 5 | 12 | 15 | 12 | 17 | 53 | 10 | 9 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 56 | 34 | 25 | 17 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 152 | 8 |
| Enteric fever | 14 | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 1 |
| Puerperal fever | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 5 | 1 | – | – | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| Puerperal pyrexia | 36 | – | — | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 27 | 6 | – | – | 10 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 33 | 3 |
| Primary pneumonia | 86 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 19 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 22 | 31 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 4 | – | 6 | 4 | 56 | 43 |
| Influenzal pneumonia | 12 | 2 | – | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 7 | 7 |
| Dysentery | 85 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 24 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 3 | – | 30 | 22 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 60 | 1 |
| Erysipelas | 49 | – | 1 | – | – | — | 1 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 6 | 12 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 4 | – | 6 | 4 | 35 | 2 |
| Encephalitis lethargica | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 |
| Cerebro-spinal meningitis | 6 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 2 | – | – | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | 6 | 1 |
| Polio-myelitis and polio-encephalitis | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 4 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| Pulmonary tuberculosis | 150 | – | – | – | – | 2 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 69 | 25 | 27 | 7 | 34 | 20 | 17 | 18 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 16 | 6 | 138 | 93 |
| Other forms of tuberculosis | 37 | 2 | – | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 37 | 13 |
| Ophthalmia neonatorum | 11 | 11 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 6 | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | – |
| Malaria | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| *Enteritis (diarrhoea) | 50 | 30 | 13 | 2 | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12 | 10 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | – | 38 | 59 |
| †Acute rheumatism | 49 | – | – | – | 1 | – | 20 | 26 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 20 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 3 | – | – | 2 | – | 24 | – |
| Totals | 991 | 61 | 51 | 50 | 57 | 47 | 211 | 89 | 58 | 206 | 66 | 62 | 33 | 290 | 210 | 144 | 100 | 62 | 50 | 37 | 68 | 30 | 839 | 236 |
* Notifiable only in children under the age of 5 years
† „ „ „ „ „ 16 „
Cases of mistaken diagnosis are excluded from the above table.