London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Kensington 1896

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Parish]

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35
so that they might be on the look out for cases of the disease
at the due dates, but happily there were none. It needs
not to dwell on the probable evil consequences of migrant
cases of small-pox like those of C. C- and W. M- . The
short history above given, indicates the number of places where
these men might have sown the seeds of the disease. In each
lodging house where they put up, after falling ill, there was
the probability that they might have infected other tramps, and
so have disseminated disease in many parts of the country.
It was fortunate indeed that so little mischief was done where
so much might and, probably would have been done, had the
constitution of the season been epidemic.
MEASLES.
Measles was the most fatal of the diseases of the zymotic
class; the deaths registered were 173 (154 in the Town subdistrict
and 19 in Brompton), and nearly 100 in excess of the
corrected decennial average (75.4): of the 173 deaths, 160 were
registered during 20 weeks, January 26th—June 14th. These
are record figures, considerably exceeding as they do the
previous maximum in 1890. when 140 deaths were registered,
including 133 in the 20 weeks, April 20th—September 6th.
Of the deaths in 1896, 93 were of males and 80 of females :
154 occurred in the Town sub-district and 19 in the Brompton
sub-district. The deaths in the several sanitary districts were:—
in the North district 58; in the North-east 23; in the Northwest
44; in the Central 21; in the South-east 11; and in the
South-west 16:135 of the deaths occurred in North Kensington
and 38 in South Kensington : 156 of the deaths took place
under five years of age, 32 of them in the first year of life:
between 5 and 15 years of age there were 15 deaths. The
disease proved fatal to two adults, aged respectively 37 and 41
years. The first of these cases was that of the wife of a collector,
measles being complicated with congestion of the lungs and
followed by a premature confinement; the second was the
daughter of a professional man, the cause of death, as certified,
D 2