London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Stoke Newington 1912
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Stoke Newington, The Metropolitan Borough]
This page requires JavaScript
122
DIPHTHERIA.
The 55 cases of Diphtheria occurred in 52 houses, 5 of which
were more or less insanitary.
The sanitary defects were grave in 1 instance.
| 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 |
| 1901 | 0.19 | 0.16 | 0.17 |
| 1905 | 0.09 | 0.12 | 0.16 |
| 1906 | 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 | 0.14 |
| 1910 | 0.04 | 0.09 | 0.12 |
| 1911 | 0.06 | 0.13 | 0.13 |
| 1912 | 0.00 | 0.10 | 0.11 |
School attendance is either alleged by the parents or surmised
by myself, on good grounds, to be the cause of 2 attacks
during the year.
Two appear to have caught the infection from previous cases
in the same household. In 2 cases it was very clear that a preceding
Tonsilitis predisposed to an attack of Diphtheria. In several
cases there was a history of previous throat trouble, frequently
recurring. One case was imported into the Borough, and there
were two "return cases." A domestic servant acting as a
"carrier" of the germ, though not herself suffering from
diphtheria, gave the complaint to her mistress.
Many applications have been made at the office for tubes of
"antitoxin," which I store for the convenience of local practitioners.