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 1925
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras, Metropolitan Borough]
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51
SCARLET FEVER.
651 cases were notified during the year; but of this number 100 were subsequently
reported by the hospital authorities not to be suffering from this disease. The actual
number of cases was therefore 551, equal to an attack rate of 2.6 per 1,000 of population.
During the preceding 5 years the average yearly number of cases was 928, the figures, therefore,
for the past year show that the disease was very much less prevalent.
Of the 100 cases which were incorrectly diagnosed, 53 were notified by Medical
Officers of hospitals and other institutions, and 47 by general practitioners.
I have also to report the fact that this is the first year in the records of the Borough
in which not a single death occurred from this disease. During recent years Scarlet Fever has
undoubtedly been of a milder type, but even so, the fact that 551 cases were treated without
a single fatality is highly creditable to the hospital authorities.
The following table gives particulars as to the prevalence and fatality of this disease during the past 10 years, the figures being corrected for errors in diagnosis:—
| Year. | No. of Cases. | Case rate per 1,000 of population. | No. of Deaths. | Death rate per 1,000 of population. | Case Mortality per cent. | Percentage of Cases removed to Hospital. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1916 | 404 | 2.0 | 8 | 0.04 | 2.0 | 96 |
| 1917 | 224 | 1.2 | 1 | 0.02 | 1.8 | 97 |
| 1918 | 289 | 1.6 | 7 | 0.04 | 2.4 | 96 |
| 1919 | 510 | 2.3 | 5 | 0.02 | 1.0 | 96 |
| 1920 | 808 | 3.5 | 11 | 0.05 | 1.4 | 96 |
| 1921 | 1649 | 7.7 | 7 | 0.03 | 0.4 | 96 |
| 1922 | 1102 | 5.2 | 20 | 0.09 | 1.8 | 99 |
| 1923 | 425 | 2.0 | 3 | 0.01 | 0.7 | 99 |
| 1924 | 658 | 3.0 | 12 | 0.05 | 1.8 | 98 |
| 1925 | 551 | 2.6 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 98 |
Of the 651 cases notified, 639, or 98.2 per cent., were removed to hospital.
Return Cases.—This term is applied to cases of Scarlet Fever which occur in a house
within 28 days of the return from hospital of a previous case.
17 such cases occurred during the year. Four cases were in one house and one in each
of thirteen other houses.
Special inquiries are made into these cases, with the object of discovering any possible
source of infection.
DIPHTHERIA.
This disease was rather more prevalent than during the previous year and the case
mortality was also higher. 704 cases were notified; but of this number 141 (equal to 20.3 per