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
Hammersmith 1938
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hammersmith Borough]
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Notifiable Diseases (other than Tuberculosis) during the Year 1938.
| DISEASE. | Total cases notified | Cases admitted to Hospital. | Total deaths. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diphtheria | 189 | 188 | 5 |
| Erysipelas | 54 | 34 | — |
| Scarlet Fever | 291 | 268 | — |
| Enteric Fever | 2 | 2 | — |
| Puerperal Fever | 11 | 11 | 2 |
| Puerperal Pyrexia | 16 | 15 | |
| Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis | 8 | 8 | 2 |
| Encephalitis Lethargica | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Ophthalmia Neonatorum | 8 | 8 | — |
| Pneumonia | 115 | 74 | 94 |
| Dysentery | 23 | 23 | — |
| Poliomyelitis | 5 | 5 | — |
| Malaria | — | — | — |
| Food Poisoning | 5 | 1 | — |
| Totals | 728 | 638 | 107 |
Smallpox.—No case was reported.
Cholera.—No case was reported.
Plague.—No case was reported.
Diphtheria and Diphtheritic Membranous Croup.—
One hundred and eighty-nine cases were reported against
one hundred and seventy-nine cases in the previous year.
All the cases were treated at the Isolation Hospitals excepting
one child, which died before removal could be
effected. Five deaths were registered. The mortality rate
on the cases reported was 2.6 per cent. The cases were
fairly evenly distributed throughout the Borough.
Diphtheria is a disease which calls for prompt action by
both the parent and medical practitioner.
Parents often delay calling in a doctor when children are
ill. Any child who complains of a sore throat should be
immediately seen by a doctor and removed to hospital when
the clinical evidence is such as to give reasonable grounds
for assuming the case to be positive.