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
Paddington 1908
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Paddington, Metropolitan Borough of]
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31
MEASLES.
MEASLES.
Nominally 1908 was a non-epidemic year as regards measles, and the reported cases,
which numbered 1,236 in 1907, fell to 820. In the first quarter of the year the cases numbered
413, a figure in excess of the quarter's returns for all years except 1904. (See below.) The
minimum number for any quarter during the year was that of the third, when 32 cases were
reported, the smallest total for any quarter since 1904.
A scrutiny of the enquiry cards reduced the total number of cases of measles to 779, excluding 28 cases of german measles, not always distinguished in the weekly analysis.
| Quarters | 1. | 2. | 3. | 4. | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uncorrected. | Corrected. | |||||
| 1903 | 42 | 147 | 185 | 362 | 736 | 929 |
| 1904 | 723 | 94 | 23 | 858 | 896 | |
| 1905 | 227 | 895 | 292 | 1,702 | 1,714 | |
| 1906 | 105 | 204 | 199 | 89 | 597 | 592 |
| 1907 | 109 | 303 | 276 | 548 | 1,236 | 1,284 |
| 1908 | 413 | 301 | 32 | 74 | 820 | 779 |
The 779 cases occurred in 460 houses, giving an average of 1.6 cases per house, as compared with 1.9 in 1907, and 1.8 in 1906. The frequency of multiple cases in each of the six years, 1903-08, is indicated below:—
| 1908. | 1907. | 1906. | 1905. | 1904. | 1903. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houses with 2 cases | 130 | 194 | 100 | 257 | 141 | |
| „ 3 ,, | 55 | 97 | 143 | 59 | 60 | |
| „ 4 „ | 15 | 30 | 15 | 43 | 25 | 30 |
| „ 5 „ | 6 | 19 | 4 | 5 | 10 | |
| „ 6 „ | — | 7 | — | 3 | 3 | |
| „ 7 „ | — | 2 | 1 | — | 1 | 3 |
| „ 8 „ | — | 1 | — | — | — | 2 |
| „ 9 „ | 1 | — | — | — | — | — |
The secondary cases numbered 319 and constituted 40.9 per cent, of the total, showing
considerable reductions below the percentages for the two preceding years, viz., 46*6 and 44.4
respectively.
The deaths registered as due to the disease numbered 36, one less than the total for the
preceding year, recognised an epidemic year, when 1,284 cases were known. The 36 deaths
comprised 19 of males and 17 of females, 2 of the latter at ages over 25 years. The fatality
of the disease was 4.6 per cent., the highest recorded since 1903, when the disease was first
statistically dealt with. The mean fatality for the five years, 1903-07, was 3.5 per cent. The
fatality among males was 5.3, 1.3 above the average, and that among females 4.1, 1.1 above
the average. The rates recorded in each of the past six years are given below.
| Fatality at all ages, per 100 cases. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1908. | 1907. | 1906. | 1905. | 1904. | 1903. | |
| Males | 5.3 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 5.2 | 5.2 |
| Females | 4.1 | 2.5 | 4.2 | 3.5 | 3.1 | |
| Persons | 4.6 | 2.7 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 4.1 | |
The fatality among males was the highest of the series, that for females being exceeded
by the rate for 1904 only.