London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Southwark 1927
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Southwark, Borough of]
This page requires JavaScript
82
The scheme of immunisation of the very young without preliminary
testing is worthy of institution in this Borough, and I recommend it to
the Committee for their serious consideration."
Antitoxin is supplied free of charge, and 60 Phials of 4,000 units
have been supplied to Medical Practitioners in the Borough during the
year.
The number of cases notified and the number of deaths during the last five years were as follows:—
| Notified. | Deaths. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1923 | 770 | 49 |
| 1924 | 791 | 49 |
| 1925 | 905 | 31 |
| 1926 | 945 | 32 |
| 1927 | 774 | 21 |
ENTERIC FEVER.
Ten cases were notified during the year with 1 death. Of the above
cases 5 which occurred in Southwark can be traced to a common source,
and 3 other cases from a neighbouring borough also. These were all
treated at St. Thomas's Hospital. The original case was a baby aged 4,
and the suspected source ice cream. Of these 8 cases 2 died. Direct
personal infection could be traced in several instances. Two families
were involved, 1 living in Lambeth and the other in two different
addresses in Southwark.
Through the courtesy of Dr Tidy of St. Thomas's Hospital who
kindly furnished notes on these cases it was possible to connect this
small outbreak and to trace the epidemic back to the original case. Only
the original case appears to have been due to food infection, the other
cases having been transmitted from person to person.
The number of cases notified and the number of deaths during the last five years were as follows:—
| Notified. | Deaths. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1923 | 18 | 2 |
| 1924 | 12 | 1 |
| 1925 | 6 | - |
| 1926 | 10 | 3 |
| 1927 | 10 | 1 |