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
Holborn 1933
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Holborn Borough]
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49
District Organiser of the L.C.C. Care Committee, and one by the Invalid Children's
Aid Association, as having been definitely stated medically to be suffering from
rheumatism.
Eighty-three cases have been reported to the health visitors by parents, and
in 33 of these the diagnosis of rheumatism has been confirmed.
The total notifications received up to the end of 1933 are classified as; —
| Rheumatic tendency | 5 |
| Sub-acute rheumatism | |
| Acute rheumatism | 43 |
| Post-rheumatic | 15 |
| 124 |
| Age in years. | Sex . | Total. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| M. | F. | ||
| 2 | 1 | — | |
| 3 | 1 | — | |
| 4 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 5 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| 6 | 4 | 10 | |
| 7 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| 8 | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| 9 | 7 | 10 | 17 |
| 10 | 5 | 9 | 14 |
| 11 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 12 | 4 | 10 | 14 |
| 13 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| 14 | 2 | 10 | 12 |
| 15 | 3 | 3 | |
| Totals | 52 | 72 | 124 |
Particulars of cases of acute rheumatism in children arc recorded in a register
under the following main headings:—Name; Classification and Symptoms;
Tonsils, Adenoids and Teeth; Treatment; Home Conditions; Sleeping Conditions;
Hours of Sleep; Clothing; Food; Assistance Required; Family History; and Health
of Contacts.
The Holborn children attend Rheumatism Supervisory Clinics at the Hospital
for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, and at the Royal Free Hospital.
Enquiries in Notified Cases of Rheumatism.
Enquiries into the housing conditions of the notified cases showed that 52 lived in
satisfactory artisan self-contained flats; 25 lived in satisfactory artisan homes in divided
houses of a comfortable type (a better class of house let in lodgings); 37 lived in houses let
in lodgings; 8 lived in artisan dwellings of an old type, not self-contained, but superior to
ordinary houses let in lodgings; and two were not traced as a result of incorrect addresses.
It is somewhat curious to note the incidence of acute rheumatism in satisfactory homes.
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