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 1957
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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the figures of 0.72 for births and 1.03 for deaths. The crude birth and
death rates for the borough should be multiplied by the appropriate factor,
and when so adjusted the results are comparable with the crude rates for
England and Wales or with the corresponding adjusted rates for any other
area.
The following table gives the adjusted Kensington birth and death rates compared with the rates for London and for England and Wales for the year 1957:-
| Kensington adjusted | London | England and Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. of births per 1,000 population | 11.9 | 16.2 | 16.1 |
| No. of deaths per 1,000 population | 10.7 | 11.4 | 11.5 |
Infant Death Rate. This rate for 1957 was 28.2, an increase from the rate for the previous year of 7.1. The rate for the County of London was 22.0 and for England and Wales was 23.0. The following table shows the rates for the last five years:-
| Year | Kensington | London | England & Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | 28.2 | 22.0 | 23.0 |
| 1956 | 21.1 | 21.0 | 23.8 |
| 1955 | 31.4 | 23.3 | 24.9 |
| 1954 | 22.5 | 21.0 | 25.5 |
| 1953 | 19.7 | 23.9 | 26.8 |
It will be seen that the infant death rate for Kensington made
a "jump increase" compared with last year's rate. A similar increase
occurred in 1955. In each case this was mainly due to a rise in perinata]
mortality, i.e. deaths in the first week of life, prematurity (see table
below) and the statistical difficulties arising from the small numbers
involved. Just over two deaths suffice to increase the rate by one.
Number of deaths of babies under one week of age
| Year | Age in days at death | Total | Total deaths due to prematurity | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 or under | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |||
| 1955 | 41 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 51 | 32 |
| 1956 | 24 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | - | 58 | 21 |
| 1957 | 57 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 1 | - | 52 | 35 |
Maternal Death Rate. One death of a mother due to childbirth
was recorded in 1957. giving a maternal death rate per 1,000 live and still
births of 0.36. (The maternal mortality rate for the County of London
was 0.52 and for England and Wales the figure was 0.39.)
Infectious Diseases. There was no serious outbreak of infectious
disease in the borough during 1957- The total number of notifications
received was 1,781 in comparison with 1,331 in the previous year. The
increase was almost entirely due to the larger number of cases of measles
notified - 982 in 1957 compared with 358 in 1956.
No case of diphtheria was notified in 1957. which compares with
one case in the previous year. Only 22 cases of diphtheria have been
notified in Kensington in the last ten years, in three of which there was a
"nil" return. In the previous ten years (1938-47), 638 cases of diphtherit
were notified, the highest number in one year being 156.
Tuberculosis. The death rate from all forms of tuberculosis per
100,000 population was 10.1 which is lower than last year's figure of 11.8.
The 1957 Kensington death rate is slightly better than the rate (10.7) for
England and Wales.