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 1949
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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The following table shows the age distribution of patients with and without paralysis
| Age Groups (years) | Paralytic | Non-Paralytic | Total | Total persons | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | ||
| Under 1 year | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Between 1 and 3 | 7 | 4 | - | - | 7 | 4 | 11 |
| 3 and 5 | 1 | 3 | - | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 5 and 10 | 3 | 4 | - | - | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 10 and 15 | 6 | 4 | 1 | - | 7 | 4 | 11 |
| 15 and 25 | 1 | 5 | - | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 25 and over | 2 | - | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| TOTALS | 20 | 20 | 3 | 4 | 23 | 24 | 47 |
The five deaths occurred in males of 25 and 24 years and
females of 19, 13 and 11 years. It will be noted that slightly
more than half of the patients (24) were 10 years of age or
over and that the five deaths were all in this older group.
The forty paralytic cases included the five deaths. Of
the remaining thirty-five, subsequent enquiry has shown that
on 31st January,1950, eight were still undergoing orthopaedic
treatment in hospital, thirteen were at home but continuing
orthopaedic treatment as out-patients for residual paralysis,
eight were reported to have fully recovered and six patients
were found to have left Kensington.
The first case was notified during the first week in
April and the last during the third week in November. The
following table shows the number of cases notified each month
in Kensington from March to December, 1949, (confirmed cases
in brackets) together with the number of cases notified in
the Administrative County of London and in England and Wales
Notifications of Poliomyelitis (including Polio-Encephalitis)
| Mch. | Apl. | May | June | July | Aug. | Sept. | Oct. | Nov. | Dec. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KENSINGTON | 1 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 6 | 3 | ||
| (-) | (1) | (1) | (-) | (5) | (12) | (9) | (15) | (4) | (-) | |
| County of London | 4 | 9 | 5 | 15 | 46 | 130 | 163 | 286 | 150 | 64 |
| England and Wales | 65 | 60 | 58 | 122 | 543 | 1015 | 1251 | 1975 | 1065 | 530 |
During the late summer and autumn, poliomyelitis was
prevalent in England and Wales, with a peak of 463 cases in
the week ending 15th October; for the County of London the
maximum incidence was also in the week ending 15th October
(68 cases). In Kensington the peak was reached in the week
ending lst October, with 6 notified cases.