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 1947
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras, Metropolitan Borough]
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Cases Notified.
| Notifications | Comparable totals for 1946 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1 | 1 and over | Total for 1947 | |||
| Acute influenzal and primary pneumonia | 9 | 88 | 97 | 123 | |
| Anterior poliomyelitis and polioencephalitis | 1 | 35 | 36 | 3 | |
| Cerebro-spinal meningitis | 2 | 5 | 7 | 9 | |
| Diphtheria and membranous croup | — | 41 | 41 | 94 | |
| Dysentery | 19 | 5 | 24 | 92 | |
| Enteric or typhoid fever | — | 2 | 2 | 5 | |
| Erysipelas | 1 | 37 | 38 | 53 | |
| Food poisoning | — | 7 | 7 | 9 | |
| Malaria | — | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| Measles | 56 | 846 | 902 | 1,115 | |
| Ophthalmia neonatorum | 23 | — | 23 | 33 | |
| Puerperal fever | — | 5 | 5 | 6 | |
| Puerperal pyrexia | — | 35 | 35 | 47 | |
| Scabies | 8 | 292 | 300 | 699 | |
| Scarlatina or scarlet fever | 1 | 123 | 124 | 244 | |
| Whooping cough | 88 | 396 | 484 | 511 | |
It was subsequently ascertained that the following notifications which are included in the preceding table, were not regarded as cases of the disease as originally diagnosed:—
| Under 1 | Over 1 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anterior poliomyelitis | 1 | 20 | 21 |
| Cerebro-spinal meningitis | — | 1 | 1 |
| Diphtheria and membranous croup | — | 20 | 20 |
| Erysipelas | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Measles | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| Scabies | — | 1 | 1 |
| Scarlatina or scarlet fever | 1 | 15 | 16 |
| Whooping cough | 8 | 11 | 19 |
Pneumonia.
This disease is a frequent complication of other diseases, such as Measles. When it
occurs in that manner it is not notifiable.
The notifiable forms of Pneumonia are Acute Primary and Acute Influenzal Pneumonia.
There were 62 notifications of the former and 35 of the latter during 1947 (as compared with
80 and 43 respectively for 1946).
Anterior Poliomyelitis and Polioencephalitis.
England suffered from its worst outbreak of infantile paralysis during 1947, and the
epidemic affected St. Pancras in that there were notified 36 cases, of which 15 were subsequently
confirmed as being definite cases of the disease. One person died. I was called upon in