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 1923
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Westminster, City of]
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24
B.—Communicable Diseases.
Details respecting the notifications of infectious disease received are
set out on the adjoining page.
The following summary shows the number of cases which came to the notice of the Department in the last three years.
| 1921. | 1922. | 1923. | 1921. | 1922 | 1923. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small-pox | — | — | 1 | Ophthalmia neonatorum | 25 | 25 | 52 |
| Diphtheria | 248 | 285 | 91 | Measles | 26 | 591 | 131 |
| Erysipelas | 53 | 37 | 34 | German measles | 9 | 11 | 42 |
| Scarlet fever | 681 | 261 | 129 | Pneumonia | 62 | 48 | 60 |
| Enteric fever | 10 | 12 | 18 | Malaria | 1 | — | — |
| Continued fever | — | — | — | Dysentery | — | — | — |
| Puerperal fever | 10 | 7 | 3 | Anthrax | — | 1 | — |
| Cerebro-spinal meningitis | — | 4 | 1 | Chicken-pox | 119 | 178 | 169 |
| Mumps | 278 | 25 | 95 | ||||
| Encephalitis lethargica | — | 2 | 2 | Whooping cough | 133 | 67 | 35 |
| Polio-myelitis | — | 1 | 1 |
Small-pox.—This disease, which caused a considerable amount of
anxiety in 1922, continued to increase in amount in 1923 in various parts
of England. The number of cases in each of the last 7 years is given as:—
1917 7 1920 280
1918 63 1921 336
1919 311 1922 973
1923 2,500
The counties chiefly involved were Gloucester, Derby, Nottingham
and the West Riding of Yorkshire. The disease as it appeared in those
districts was of a very mild type and it is probable that a number of
cases were not recorded. So far this type has not yet invaded London,
but as not much attempt is being made to prevent its continuance, it
is not improbable that it will spread to other localities. So long as
people prefer to pay the heavy cost of interference with business, of the
provision of hospital accommodation and maintenance and of various other
outlays involved, instead of availing themselves of vaccination, the
disease will continue until the supply of unprotected persons is exhausted.
London has, however, been invaded on two occasions by a more virulent
form of small-pox, imported from Spain. On one of these occasions a
lady arrived at a hotel in Westminster and shortly after became ill, but
refused to see a doctor. At the end of a week she left to stay with friends
in the suburbs ; three relatives developed small-pox and one died. After
she had left the hotel a resident employee fell ill with it, and a chambermaid
who had left the hotel in the interval, a non-resident porter and a
clerk at business premises near by also developed the disease. Not
knowing that the lady's illness was of an infectious character, the proprietor
of the hotel did not have the room disinfected before allowing
other persons to occupy it, with the result that a gentleman who was
the next occupant took ill with small-pox soon after his return to his
home in the country. In all, only 12 cases appear to have supervened.