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

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Stoke Newington 1903

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Stoke Newington, The Metropolitan Borough]

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23
INFECTIOUS DISEASES AND THE MEASURES TAKEN TO
PREVENT THEIR SPREAD.
It will be seen from Table B that 248 Notification Certificates of
Infectious Illness were received from medical practitioners, as against
399 during the preceding year. These figures include notifications
received from the temporary notification of Chicken-pox and the
voluntary notification of Consumption.
These 248 cases represent infection in 215 different houses. In 261*
nstances the disinfection was performed by the Sanitary Authority,
and in the other cases by the householders, to the satisfaction of their
medical attendant. A visit was paid to every house, and it was
ascertained that cases of infectious illness occurred in 26 houses where
there were "grave" sanitary defects, 31 in which the sanitary defects
were "slight," and 158 in which there were no such defects.
In forming these conclusions I have considered whether any
sanitary defect was of a nature which is generally held by health
officers to predispose to, or directly bring about, the particular disease
in question.
Thus, apart from the measures that have been taken to prevent
the spread of infectious illness, the notification of such illness was
the means during the year of bringing about a sanitary inspection of
215 premises.
Table B1 shows the number of cases, and of deaths, from the
Infectious Diseases notified during the years 1892-1903; and Table B2
the cases of Infectious Diseases notified during each month of the year
1903.
The Infectious Sickness Rate of the Borough, excluding the
notifications from Chicken-pox and Consumption, was 3.7 to each 1,000
of the population, as against 7.7 for the preceding year. The rate
in the Northern Division was 3.4, while that in the Southern Division
was 3.9.
*This figure includes the disinfection after deaths from Consumption and
Cancer.