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32 WHOOPING COUGH.
WHOOPING COUGH.
Cases of this disease come to the knowledge of the Department in the same way as do
those of measles, but it is believed, and the figures about to be given support that view,
that the information thus obtained is much less complete. Last year the weekly compilation
of cases reported amounted to a total of 404 cases in the year, the principal incidence of the
disease falling on the second and fourth quarters. The corrected total for the year was
377 cases (185 in males and 192 in females), a smaller total than any recorded in the past six
years, except 1908. The quarterly (uncorrected) and annual numbers recorded in each of the
last six years are appended.
Year.
Quarters 1. 2. 3. 4. Uncorrected. Corrected.
1907 189 305 73 48 615 589
1908 34 65 37 35 171 170
1909 234 243 72 26 584 561
1910 137 182 95 134 548 518
1911 403 219 49 15 686 632
1912 87 126 49 142 404 377
The 377 cases were reported in 203 houses, giving an average of 18 cases per house, the
same as in 1911, but higher than in 1910 and 1909 (17). The secondary cases numbered 174,
equal to 462 per of the total known cases, a higher proportion than that recorded in
1911 (455) and the two earlier years (42.0). Below the house distribution recorded in the past
six years is given.
1907. 1908. 1909. 1910. 1911. 1912.
Houses with 2 cases 99 22 98 95 102 61
3 „ 49 16 41 38 51 24
4 „ 12 5 12 11 15 9
5 „ 4 — 2 1 7 7
„ 6 „ 1 - 1 2 1 2
7 „ — — — — 1
8 „ - — 1 — — —
Twenty-one deaths (11 of males and 10 of females) v/ere recorded during the year, the
total fatility being 55 per 100 cases, as compared with 7"0 for the years 1907-11 and 7*1 in 1911.
Lower fatalities among females were recorded in 1908 (4-3) and 1910 (46), otherwise last years
rates are the lowest for the six years.
Average,
1907. 1908. 1909. 1910. 1911. 1907-11. 1912.
Males 9.2 8.8 6.4 9.4 7.2 8.2 5.9
Females 7.8 4.3 6.3 4.6 7.0 6.0 5.2
Persons 8.4 6.5 6.4 6.7 7.1 7.0 5.5
The Ward distribution of attacks and deaths given in Table 21 (page 35) is the basis on which
is founded the belief of the incompleteness of the information as to attacks. Fatalities such as
129 for Maida Vale and 42.8 for Hyde Park Wards, containing a large proportion of well-to-do
inhabitants, are manifestly not based on data comparable with those used, say, in the case of
Church Ward, where the fatality works out at 30 per only. The fatalities in all three
southern Wards and in Maida Vale cannot be regarded as tests of actual results, but those noted
in the other Wards are probably very close approximations to the truth. In those Wards it
will be observed that last years fatalities were below the averages, except in Harrow Road, the
decrease in Church Ward being particularly noteworthy. The sex-age-group fatalities (Table 22,
page 35) were below the averages, except in the cases of females 1-2 and 2-3.
The 21 deaths were equivalent to a mortality of 0.15 per 1,000 persons of all ages, as compared
with a rate of 0.31 in 1911 and an average of 024. (See below) The rate obtained from
the Registrar-Generals figures (Table 13) was 0.17, 004 less than that for London as a whole