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
Battersea 1938
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Battersea Borough]
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The number of visits paid by district nurses, under arrangements
made by the Council, to cases of Ophthalmia Neonatorum
or other inflammatory condition of the eyes was 2,235. All cases
were kept under systematic supervision by the Health Visiting staff,
and 121 visits were made to the homes of these and other children
suffering from eye affections.
The following table shews the distribution of the cases notified:—
| Sub-Districts. Wards. | Cases. | Births (live). | Rate per 1000 Births. | Year. | Cases. | Births (live). | Rate per 1,000 Births. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N. Battersea | 13 | 1,007 | 12.9 | 1933 | 16 | 2,263 | 7.1 |
| S. Battersea | 16 | 1,107 | 14.5 | ||||
| 1. Nine Elms | 4 | 341 | 11.7 | 1934 | 23 | 2,154 | 10.7 |
| 2. Park | 2 | 223 | 9.0 | 1935 | 21 | 2,104 | 10.0 |
| 3. Latchmere | 4 | 219 | 18.3 | ||||
| 4. Shaftesbury | 1 | 178 | 5.6 | 1936 | 29 | 2,128 | 13.6 |
| 5. Church | 3 | 224 | 13.4 | ||||
| 6. Winstanley | 5 | 269 | 18.6 | 1937 | 12 | 2,144 | 5.6 |
| 7. St. John | 4 | 161 | 24.8 | ||||
| 8. Bolingbroke | 5 | 262 | 19.1 | Mean | |||
| 9. Broomwood | 1 | 237 | 4.2 | 1933-37 | 20 | 2,159 | 9.4 |
| Borough | 29 | 2,114 | 13.7 | 1938 | 29 | 2,114 | 13.7 |
Erysipelas.
There were 51 cases of Erysipelas notified, 35 of which were
treated in hospital. No death was recorded from the disease.
Measles.
The London County Council made new Regulations—the
County of London (Measles and Whooping Cough) Regulations—
dated 9th September, 1938, which were approved by the Minister
of Health and came into force on 1st October. A draft of the regulations
had been previously submitted to the Council who made
two suggestions thereon, one of which was adopted and embodied
in the Regulations.
Measles had previously been a notifiable disease in London
from 1916 to 1919, but the regulations were then rescinded, and
except in isolated boroughs (of which Battersea was one), notification
was not required for a period of nearly 20 years. Battersea,
however, obtained its own Order—the Battersea (Measles and
Whooping Cough) Regulations, dated 8th April, 1922—but this
was, of course, rescinded on the coming into force of the new
regulations.