View report page

16 Medical Officer of Health Annual Report.
notified and there were 88 deaths. The number notified
was the greatest we have on record, the nearest approach
being in 1897, when there were 576. The number of
deaths was 19 above the corrected average, and was exceeded
in the years 1893 and 1897 only out of the ten
years. The deaths give a rate per thousand living of
0.44, while the rate for the whole of London was 0.39.
Of neighbouring districts, we find that Battersea had a
rate of 0.70, and Lambeth. 0.38, The mean of the rate
for the last ten years was 0.36 per thousand living.
Turning to its distribution within the district, we find
that there was relatively the greatest amount in Clapham,
186 cases, and next to that Streatham, 180. The
mortality was also proportionally greater in Clapham
(27 deaths), the next being Wandsworth (27), and
Streatham (23).
The case mortality was 14.9 per cent., compared
with 18.4 in 1897. There has been a great fall in the
mortality per hundred cases notified, since notification
became compulsory, and this may undoubtedly be in
part attributed to the more general use of Diphtheria
antitoxin as a remedy. It may also be related to the
large proportion now treated in the isolation hospitals,
65 per cent, of the total cases having been removed to
hospitals during the year.
The distribution in the different months as given in
the Chart, shows that the lowest point was reached in
August, when there were 28 cases, and that there were
two maxima in February and October with 70 and 63
cases respectively.
With regard to the prevention of the spread of
Diphtheria, the obviously important point is to secure
the earliest possible diagnosis, so that isolation may be
insisted on, and the infected child prevented from