Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Islington, Parish of St Mary]
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The following Table will show its progress during the year 1871:—
Public Cases. | Deaths. | Public Cases. | Deaths. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
January | 121 | 28 | July | 98 | 23 |
February | 123 | 42 | August | 75 | 22 |
March | 198 | 50 | September | 64 | 30 |
April | 249 | 55 | October | 20 | 4 |
May | 236 | 51 | November | 27 | 4 |
June | 178 | 68 | December | 40 | 9 |
The disease then attained its maximum fatality in June, though the
epidemic, as indicated by the number of fresh cases, was at its culminating
point early in May. Since that time there was a steady decrease in the
number of fresh cases until November; when a slight recrudescence
occurred. During the year then it caused 386 deaths, or nearly a â…“rd of
the deaths caused by all the miasmatic diseases; it is by observing the ages
at which these deaths took place, that we shall best learn the practical lessons
to be derived from the epidemic as far as these returns exhibit them: thus
of the 386 deaths, 171, or less than one-half, were among children under ten
years of age. Now in all the other Continued Fevers, (leaving Puerperal
Fever out of the question for obvious reasons), with the exception of Typhoid
Fever, the number of deaths before ten years of age is far greater than the
number occurring at later periods of life.
The following Statistics taken from Table I. show this clearly:—
Under 10 years | Over 10 yrs | Under 10 years | Over 10 yrs | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Measles | 147 | l | Croup | 21 | 0 |
Scarlatina | 125 | 14 | Hooping Cough | 154 | 0 |
Diphtheria | 28 | 2 | Small Pox | 171 | 215 |
This shows us that Small Pox for some reason or another behaves
in an exceptional manner to all the other fevers with which it is allied, for