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
City of Westminster 1901
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Westminster, City of]
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105
If, however, the 12 cases due to personal and shell-fish infection
be deducted, the number to each of the last three' Companies is 13,
37, and 18, and the rate per 1,000 population in area supplied 0.30,
0 36, and 0.49 respectively.
Professor Thorpe, of the Government Laboratory, who examines
the water supply of the various Companies, has instituted a method of
comparison between the water supplied by the Kent Company from
deep wells, and that drawn from the Thames and Lea by other
companies. Taking the average amount of organic impurity in
a given volume of Kent Company's water during nine years as
unity, the proportional amount contained in an equal volume of
water at oue (and occasionally on two) occasion during each month was as follows in 1901.
I have included in this table a note of the net number of actual cases notified during the same period (deducting those in which the disease was contracted abroad), and in the second column the number which probably originated in that month (from 5 to 21 days elapsed between the entry of infection into the system and the beginning of symptoms):—
| 1901. Month. | Cases notified. | Cases originated. | Water Companies. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kent. | New River. | West Middlesex. | Chelsea. | Grand Junction. | |||
| January | 7 | 5 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 6.2 |
| February | 3 | 3 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 4.8 | 4.3 | 5.1 |
| March | 6 | .7 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 5.6 |
| April | 3 | 3 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 4.2 | 3.5 | 5.7 |
| May | 7 | 8 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 3.7 | 2.6 | 3.2 |
| June | 6 | 7 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 2.7 | 2.0 | 2.4 |
| July | 7 | 4 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 2.3 | 2.1 | 2.9 |
| August | 3 | 4 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 2.7 |
| September | 9 | 9 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 2.3 | 2.2 |
| October | 8 | 13 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 2.1 | 2.3 |
| November | 14 | 7 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 2.9 |
| December | 5 | 8 | 0.9 | 1:7 | 2.4 | 2.2 | 2.4 5.4 |
At first sight it does not appear as if the quality of the water
had influenced the occurrence of typhoid fever, and that the Royal
Commission were right in their conclusion that infection was most
unlikely to occur through drinking Thames water, on account of the
large dilution to which any poison must be subjected. But it must
be kept in mind that the infective agent in typhoid fever is a living
organism, and cannot be diluted in the same way as a poisonous
chemical, and if it exists in Thames water the filtration to which
it is subject will not keep it out of the supply. For it is evident
(8545) H