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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84
to the same extent, and Diphtheria was five times greater than
the average. The cases of the latter disease were few but they
were very fatal. On the other hand Scarlatina was more than
three-fifths below the average; Diarrhœa was one-half, and
Whooping-Cough no less than three-fourths below the average
amount. The proportion which the total deaths from these
diseases bore to the deaths from all causes was considerably
more than one-third below the average.
The following table shews the months in which the deaths from Epidemic diseases occurred, with the mean temperature of each quarter of the year.
| DISEASE. | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean Temp. 40.0 | Mean Temp. 53.0 | Mean Temp. 59.5 | Mean Temp. 44.9 | |||||||||
| Small Pox | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| Measles | .. | 1 | 3 | .. | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| Scarlatina | 1 | 2 | .. | .. | .. | 1 | .. | .. | .. | 1 | .. | .. |
| Diphtheria | .. | .. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 | 2 |
| Whooping Cough | .. | .. | .. | 1 | .. | .. | 1 | .. | 2 | .. | 1 | .. |
| Diarrhœa | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | .. | 1 | .. | .. |
| Fever | .. | 2 | 1 | 1 | •• | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | .. | .. |
| Totals | 1 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| 11 | 17 | 20 | 9 | |||||||||
The mean temperature corresponded exactly with the
average of previous 42 years (see table 7 Appendix). It was
also higher than the average in the first and fourth quarters
and lower in the second and third, so that it was generally
more equable—the winter warmer, and the summer cooler. To
this circumstance the diminution recorded in the amount of
fatality from diseases of the Respiratory Organs in the winter
quarter, and in that of Diarrhœa in the summer quarter are
probably attributable.