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
Wandsworth 1881
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Wandsworth District, The Board of Works (Clapham, Putney, Streatham, Tooting & Wandsworth)]
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excess in Battersea,, and proportionally low in the other
localities. The incidence of Small-pox it is difficult to
determine in consequence of the great majority of cases
having been removed to hospitals, but it appears to have
disproportionately affected Battersea and Wandsworth.
The relative amount of epidemic mortality in the several sub-districts is shown in the following table.
| SUB-DISTRICTS. | No. of Deaths from Epidemic Diseases per 1000 of the Estimated population | Ratio of Deaths from Epidemic Disease to every 100 of the total deaths. |
|---|---|---|
| Battersea | 3.50 | 17.63 |
| Clapham | 1.93 | 14.22 |
| Putney | 1.65 | 13.17 |
| Streatham | 1.43 | 11.82 |
| Wandsworth | 2.41 | 13.60 |
The following are the measures which have been
adopted for the prevention and suppression of the
principal epidemic diseases, but more especially of the
late outbreak of Small-pox, to which some of them were
more immediately and successfully applicable:— viz.:
The isolation of patients by the earliest possible removal
to hospital, with the free use of disinfectants in the
houses before and after removal; the destruction by fire
of the bedding, clothes, &c., of the patients when necessary;
the subjecting the infected rooms for several
hours to the fumes of burning sulphur (the complete
efficiency of which has been fully tested and confirmed, as
shown in most of the "Local Summaries" contained in
this Report), and the subsequent cleansing of them by
lime-whiting and washing; and in addition, in Putney, the
disinfection of bedding, clothes, &c., by means of a
Hot-air Oven; the vaccination and re-vaccination of