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 1927
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Paddington, Metropolitan Borough of]
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15
Seasonal prevalence.—The following table shows the numbers of cases notified in each fourweekly
period during 1927.
1927.
Notifications of Diphtheria and Membranous Croup.
Four-Weekly Periods.
| Period No. 1. | Period No. 2. | Period No. 3. | Period No. 4. | Period No. 5. | Period No. 6. | Period No. 7. | Period No. 8. | Period No. 9. | Period No. 10. | Period No. 11. | Period No. 12. | Period No. 13. | Totals. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 1,041 | 1,000 | 973 | 857 | 829 | 837 | 724 | 691 | 709 | 970 | 1,227 | 1,251 | 1,203 | 12,312 |
| Paddington | 40 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 35 | 29 | 18 | 20 | 27 | 41 | 35 | 27 | 34 | 369 |
| Queen's Park | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 3 | – | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 36 |
| Harrow Road | 6 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 6 | 8 | 87 |
| Maida Vale | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 52 |
| Town | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | 1 | 3 | 1 | – | – | 10 |
| Church | 18 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 6 | – | 1 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 78 |
| Westbourne | 10 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 74 |
| Lancaster Gate, West | – | – | – | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 6 |
| Lancaster Gate, East | – | – | 1 | – | 2 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 7 |
| Hyde Park | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 19 |
Diphtheria Carriers.—There is a clinic for diphtheria carriers held at St. Mary's Hospital,
but only a dozen or so cases attend during the course of a year. These are mostly contacts of
acute diphtheria cases sent for treatment by medical practitioners.
Anti-Diphtheritic Serum.—This is stocked at the Town Hall and supplied to medical
practitioners on request for the use of patients who are too poor to obtain such serum privately.
During the year 16 phials of 4,000 units and 10 phials of 500 units were distributed.
SMALL-POX.
No cases of the disease were notified during 1927. A number of persons who had been in
contact with the disease on board a ship or in another district were kept under observation.
CHICKEN-POX.
Chicken-pox has been notifiable in Paddington since November 28th, 1922, but the sections
of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, dealing with disinfection, exposure to infection, etc.,
are not in force as regards this disease. The only other area in London in which chicken-pox
is notifiable is the Port of London.
Chicken-pox does not vary very much in its prevalence from year to year. The number
of cases certified by medical practitioners was 461 and there were 323 cases reported from
other sources, making a total of 784 in 1927, as compared with 599 certified cases in 1926,
459 in 1925, 395 in 1924 and 465 in 1923. In 1927 the disease was fairly uniformly distributed
throughout the year, with occasional localised outbreaks. Only on one occasion did the number
of notifications reach 52 in a week and iri two other weeks, widely separated, the notifications
reached 33 and 34 in number.
Chicken-pox is not usually nursed in an institution, but 37 cases received institutional
treatment for various reasons.
TYPHOID FEVER AND CONTINUED FEVER.
Sixteen cases of typhoid fever were notified in 1927, of whom one apparently contracted
the disease abroad. Not all of the 16 cases proved to be real typhoid fever but no accurate
information is available on this point.
As compared with fifty years ago the number of cases of typhoid fever is only small and
it is generally impossible to trace any source of infection.
Two cases of continued fever were notified. In any case where the diagnosis of typhoid
fever cannot be made with certainty but there is a strong likelihood of the disease being
present, local doctors are encouraged to obtain early hospital treatment for these cases by
notifying them as having continued fever.