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 1923
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras, Metropolitan Borough]
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38
Scarlet Fever followed by Diphtheria.
In one instance a child returned home from hospital after an attack of Scarlet Fever, and
within nine days the father of this child was attacked with Diphtheria An examination was
made of the child, but with negative results; the infection, therefore, was probably due to
some other source.
DIPHTHERIA.
512 cases were notified during the year. On further examination, 113 of these
were subsequently found not to be suffering from tho disease. The corrected number
of cases of Diphtheria was, therefore, 399, equal to an incidence rate of 1.9 per 1000 of population,
as compared with 612 cases, and an incidence rate of 2.9 per 1000 of population, during the
previous year.
The number of deaths certified as being due to Diphtheria during the year was 20, equal
to a death rate of 0.09 per 1000 of population, and a case mortality rate of 5.0 per cent. of the
cases notified.
It will be noticed that in this disease also, both the number of cases notified and the death-rate are considerably lower than those of the three previous years:–
| Year. | No. of Notifications. | Notification rate per 1,000 population. | No of Deaths. | Death rate per 1,000 population. | Case mortality per cent. | Percentage of cases removed to hospital. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1914 | 426 | 1.9 | 30 | 0.14 | 7.0 | 87 |
| 1915 | 311 | 1.7 | 24 | 0.11 | 6.3 | 95 |
| 1916 | 383 | 1.9 | 23 | 0.12 | 6.0 | 95 |
| 1917 | 381 | 2.0 | 25 | 0.13 | 5.5 | 99 |
| 1918 | 310 | 1.9 | 31 | 0.17 | 9.1 | 93 |
| 1919 | 283 | 1.3 | 21 | 0.09 | 7.4 | 97 |
| 1920 | 680 | 2.9 | 33 | 0.14 | 4.8 | 97 |
| 1921 | 657 | 3.1 | 51 | 0.24 | 7.8 | 98 |
| 1922 | 612 | 2.9 | 41 | 0.21 | 7.2 | 98 |
| 1923 | 399 | 1.9 | 20 | 0.09 | 5.0 | 98 |
Of the notified cases of Diphtheria, 501 (or 97.9 per cent.) were removed to hospital,
as follows: —
To Metropolitan Asylums Board Hospitals 496
To other hospitals 5
501
Return Cases.—This term is applied to cases of Diphtheria occurring in the same house
within 28 days of the return from hospital of a previous case.
Cases of this description occurred in nine houses during 1923, the number of patients
being 10.