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 1912
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Westminster, City of]
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50
In 1911, there were 126 examinations for diphtheria and 77 for
tubercle. The examination in the cases of ophthalmia was for the
presence of the gonococcus. The. bacillus xerosis was found in one case.
In addition to those mentioned above, many medical men and hospitals
obtain reports on their cases from private or hospital laboratories.
Disinfection.
Below is shown the number of rooms and articles disinfected by the
Staff of the Department. The premises included 4 rooms in 2 schools:
7 vehicles were also disinfected. Tn 23 cases of infectious disease
treated at home, the laundry linen was collected weekly and disinfected.
Disinfection was carried out after all cases of the notifiable diseases,
except as regards erysipelas (in which disinfection was performed in
35 instances, when the circumstances of the case required it), and also
after 124 cases of measles, 4 chicken-pox, 21 cancer, 10 influenza,
7 whooping cough, and 271 phthisis. In 46 instances the premises, &c.,
were disinfected privatelv (37 of these being cases of phthisis).
The following table gives a comparative statement of the above work during the past seven years:—
| 1906. | 1907. | 1908. | 1909. | 1910. | 1911. | 1912. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premises | 961 | 840 | 1,067 | 1,287 | 841 | 979 | 1,020 |
| Rooms | 1,627 | 1,455 | 1,568 | 1,865 | 1,284 | 1,449 | 1,346 |
| Articles disinfected | 47,865 | 36,115 | 31,915 | 49,843 | 26,850 | 26,264 | 34.178 |
| Articles washed | — | — | — | — | 514 | 782 | 4999 |
| Articles destroyed | 195 | I,660 | 233 | 186 | 1,651 | 496 | 699 |
| Books disinfected | 363 | 136 | 557 | 281 | 595 | 266 | 315 |
| Number of persons admitted to shelters | 1 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 1 | — | — |
Cleansing of Persons.—The Guardians deal with the frequenters
of their casual wards, and at certain of the common lodging houses
facilities are provided for the inmates; 48 adults had baths at the
station, and 635 articles of clothin" were cleansed of vermin.
An arrangement with the County Council for the cleansing of school children came into force in 1912, and 464 children attended 783 times for this purpose. The children attend from other Boroughs as well as from Westminster ; the numbers were:—
| No. of Children. | No. of Attendances. | Articles of Clothing Disinfected or Washed. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Westminster | 151 | 245 | 2,183 |
| Chelsea | 124 | 180 | 1,629 |
| Lambeth | 39 | 86 | 711 |
| Battersea | 143 | 262 | 2,182 |
| Wandsworth | 4 | 10 | 78 |
| 464 | 783 | 6,783 |