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
Stoke Newington 1909
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Stoke Newington, The Metropolitan Borough]
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DIPHTHERIA.
The 29 cases of Diphtheria occurred in 27 houses, 22 of which
were more or less insanitary.
The sanitary defects were grave in 4 and slight in 6 other instances.
| Year. | Death-Rate for Stoke Newington. | Rate for London generally. | Rate for England and Wales. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 0.27 | 0.30 | 0.27 |
| 1902 | 0.09 | 0.25 | 0.23 |
| 1903 | 0.13 | 0.16 | 0.18 |
| 1604 | 0.19 | 0.16 | 0.17 |
| 1905 | 0.09 | 0.12 | 0.16 |
| 1900 | 0.08 | 0.14 | 0.17 |
| 1907 | 0.11 | 0.16 | 0.16 |
| 1908 | 0.02 | 0.15 | 0.16 |
| 1909 | 0.02 | 0.13 |
School attendance is either alleged by the parents or surmised
by myself, on good grounds, to be the cause of at least 2 attacks
during the year.
At least 3 appear to have caught the infection from previous cases
in the same household. In 4 cases it was very clear that a preceding
tonsilitis predisposed to an attack of Diphtheria. In 4 cases there
was a history of previous throat trouble, frequently recurring.
Many applications have been made at the office for tubes of
antitoxin, which I store for the convenience of local practitioners.
In this disease the spread of the infection (and by consequence
the mortality) axe largely due to the unfortunate circumstance that
the early diagnosis of the disease from clinical symptoms is frequently
difficult or impossible, and bacteriology alone can solve the difficulty
in many cases. The diagnosis outfits provided by the Council