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 1883
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Wandsworth District, The Board of Works (Clapham, Putney, Streatham, Tooting & Wandsworth)]
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73
Zymotic Diseases—their prevalence and fatality.
The total deaths in this class were 65—38 of males and 27
of females. They yield a percentage of 13.1 upon the number
of deaths from all causes during the year, as against 12.0 in
the previous year, and a rate of 2.32 per 1,000 of the population.
The following table contrasts all the deaths which resulted from the seven principal epidemic diseases during the past ten years.
| DISEASE. | 1874 | 1875 | 1876 | 1877 | 1878 | 1879 | 1880 | 1881 | 1882 | 1883 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small Pox | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | ||||
| Measles | 9 | 2 | 2 | 7 | |||||||
| Searlatina | 9 | ||||||||||
| Whooping cough | 7 | 7 | |||||||||
| 5 | 5 | ||||||||||
| 9 | |||||||||||
This table shows that 50 deaths resulted from the seven
principal Zymotic Diseases, and though this number is above
the average of the nine previous years, it is far below that of
the year 1880, and only 8 above the year 1878, when the
population was considerably less; moreover it will be seen
that the deaths from four of the diseases in this class were
below the average of the previous nine years. Examined in
detail we find there was no death from Small Pox. Two
cases were sent into Hospital in December, one of these
occurred in a crowded mews, they both recovered, and I
believe a formidable out-break of the disease was averted by
the prompt removal of these cases, together with the measures
taken to prevent the spread of infection.