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
St Pancras 1901
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras, London, Borough of]
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COMPARATIVE MORTALITY OF THE SUB-DISTRICTS.
Throwing the Birth and Death Rates of the foregoing tables into one we obtain this result:—
| Sub-Districts. | Birth Rate. | Total Death Rate from all causes. | Death Rates from | Death Rates per 1000 Births. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phthisis. | Bronchitis Pneumonia. Pleurisy. | Notifiable Infectious Diseases. | Principal Zymotic Diseases. | Under 1 year. | Under 5 years | |||
| Regent's Park | 26.2 | 18.0 | 1.83 | 3.23 | 0.81 | 2.15 | 147 | 210 |
| Tottcnliam Court | 19.3 | 19.3 | 2.60 | 4.24 | 1.16 | 2.20 | 176 | 263 |
| Gray' s Inn Lane | 25.2 | 19.9 | 1.90 | 3.61 | 1.08 | 2.50 | 188 | 271 |
| Somers Town | 30.6 | 22.4 | 2.73 | 4.22 | 0.94 | 3.25 | 194 | 307 |
| Camden Town | 27.0 | 15.5 | 1.06 | 2.47 | 1.13 | 2.21 | 121 | 188 |
| Kentish Town | 27.9 | 16.4 | 1.67 | 2.56 | 0.85 | 2.12 | 137 | 199 |
| St. Pancras | 26.5 | 18.1 | 1.87 | 3.22 | 0.96 | 2.35 | 155 | 230 |
The highest birth rate appears in Somers Town and the lowest in Tottenham
Court, from which we may infer that the former has the largest and the latter
the smallest proportion of children in the Sub-District population.
The lowest death rates are in the Camden Town and Kentish Town SubDistricts,
both being 11.5 per 1000 below their respective birth rates. The
death rates of Regent's Park and Somers Town are both 8.2 per 1000 below
their respective birth rates, but Somers Town has the highest death rate as well
as the highest birth rate of all the Sub-Districts. Gray's Inn Lane conies
second highest in death rate and lowest but one in birth rate, the former rate
being 5 3 below the latter.
Tottenham Court attracts special attention on account of the fact that its
death rate equals its birth rate, the former being the third highest and the latter
lowest of all the Sub-Districts. The equality of rates is probably due to the age
constitution of the population, a lesser proportion of infants, of children, and
of fertile adults, and a correspondingly greater proportion of unmarried persons.
This is borne out by the proportion that the deaths under one year bear to the
deaths at all ages, namely, 17.6 per cent, in Tottenham Court, the lowest percentage
of the Sub-Districts, and 26.6 per cent, in Somers Town, the highest.
Also by the proportion of deaths under five years to those at all ages, namely,
26'2 per cent, in Tottenham Court, the lowest, and 41*9 in Somers Town, the
highest. The proportion also of deaths between the ages 15 to 65 years
compared to those at all ages is from 10 to 14 per cent, higher than in any
other Sub-District.
Turning to the causes of deaths, Tottenham Court, in proportion to the
total deaths from all causes, has the highest percentage from phthisis,
bronchitis, pneumonia, and pleurisy, and the lowest percentage from the
principal zymotic diseases, which include, amongst others, measles, whooping
cough, and diarrhoea, essentially children's diseases.