View report page

36
The medical officer adds, "Two outbreaks, viz., that in July among the children attending
Halford Board School, and that among children attending Hugon-road school in December, were
apparently due to a child attending school when suffering from the disease in an unrecognised form."
Westminster.—"On the occasion of a small outbreak of diphtheria in November at Knightsbridge,
out of ten cases the first eight were either children actually attending Montpelier-street school
in Kensington parish or in houses where children resided who went to that school."
Hackney.—The report contains the account of an outbreak of diphtheria in the King Edward's
Industrial School, Andrew's-road. The attention of the medical officer of health was directed to the
outbreak on the 8th October by the medical attendant. Antecedent to this date cases of ill-defined
throat illness had occurred from the 7th September. Bacteriological examination of the exudation
from the throats of the worst cases showed the presence of diphtheria bacilli. The isolation of the
sick brought the outbreak to a close on the 18th October.
Flumstead.—The medical officer of health states that the statistics relating to diphtheria in
Plumstead during 1895 afford "no evidence that school attendance is the dominant factor in the
recent prevalence of diphtheria. On the other hand, it would appear that diphtheria has less to do
with school attendance than scarlet fever, and that it has more to do with local conditions."
In some of the reports reference is made to the occurrence of cases of diphtheria in houses in
which faulty sanitary conditions existed, and in Stoke Newington there was reason for thinking that
a diseased cat had been the cause of the illness in a child. Several of the reports of medical officers
of health refer to the difficulties caused by deficiency of hospital provision for cases of diphtheria in
1895. The medical officer of health of St. Pancras publishes in his report a list of all hospitals in
the district in which cases of diphtheria are received.
The subject of bacteriological examination of material from suspected cases of diphtheria is
discussed in some of the reports, and the reports relating to St. Marylebone and Holborn show that
the sanitary authorities of these districts gave opportunity for medical practitioners to send to the
Institute of Preventive Medicine such material for this purpose at the expense of the authorities.
The use of anti-toxic [???]erum for the treatment of diphtheria is also discussed, and reference is
made to the report on the subject by the medical superintendents of the hospitals of the Metropolitan
Asylums Board. With a view to giving facilities for the use of anti-toxin in Stoke Newington, the
vestry authorised the medical officer of health to supply this material to medical practitioners at cost
price.
The improper use of public vehicles for the conveyance of persons suffering from diphtheria is
mentioned in the reports relating to Kensington and Chelsea. The extent and use of house
accommodation of families attacked by diphtheria in Paddington is shown in a table in the report of
the medical officer of health of that district.
Whooping Cough.
The deaths from whooping cough in the administrative county of London during 1895
numbered 1,485, compared with 2,116 in 1894.

The mortality from whooping cough, therefore, shows a progressive decline during recent years.
The death rate in each year since 1840 in relation to the mean death rate of the period 1841-95
is shown in diagram XIII.
The London death rate from this disease, if compared with the death rates of other large towns
in England in the period 1885-94, exceeded all but those of Manchester, West Ham and Salford;
and in 1895 it was exceeded by those of Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Bradford and Salford.

1See footnote (1), page 10.
2 See footnote (2), page 10.