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

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Hanover Square 1886

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hanover Square, The Vestry of the Parish of Saint George]

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14
From Table V. we find that the total number of deaths
from the principal infectious diseases and diarrhoea in 1885
was only 136, the lowest number yet recorded, except in
1881, when it was also 136, and in 1883 when it was only
129, and lower by no less than 49 than the number of such
deaths in 1884, when it was 185 during 53 weeks.
The 136 deaths are equal to a zymotic death-rate of
l.52 per thousand persons living, as against 2.06 in 1884,
or a lowering of about 25 per cent. on that rate.
The rate for London was 277, also decidedly lower than
in 1884 when at was 3.34, and that for the 28 largest
English towns was 2.71 as against 3.50 for 1884; thus it
will be seen that the zymotic death-rates were generally
lower in 1885 than in 1884. Of the largest towns only 5
had lower rates than this Parish, the lowest being Halifax
with 1.12; the other 23 had higher zymotic death-rates
than ours, the highest being Cardiff with 4.98, or more than
3¼ times the zymotic death-rate of this Parish.
To consider these diseases separately :—
Small Pox caused 2 deaths in the Parish, and there
were 4 deaths of Parishioners from this disease in Public
Institutions outside the Parish. One of these fatal
cases, however, was that of a gentleman who was only 2 or
3 hours in a hotel in the Parish, having just come from the
Continent. He was removed to the Highgate Small-Pox
Hospital and died there; it is obvious that he should not be
reckoned as a Parishioner.
Measles caused only 21 deaths, as against 40 in 1884,
and an average of 24.6 during the previous 10 years. There
have been no important outbreaks of this disease in the
Schools' in the Parish the year.
Scarlet Fever caused 10 deaths, as against an average
of 21.5 during the previous 10 years. But of these 10 deaths
3 were those of non-parishioners dying in St. George's