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

London County Council 1896

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]

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Table: Deaths from several classes of disease. The deaths from the several classes of disease registered in the registration county of Londor (including the lunatic asylums and hospitals for infectious disease belonging to the county) are giver by the Registrar-General in the Annual Summary of Births, Deaths and Causes of Death, and the following table has been prepared from the figures contained in the summary relating to the year 1896— 1 See footnote (1), page 7.

Deaths from several classes of disease. The deaths from the several classes of disease registered in the registration county of Londor (including the lunatic asylums and hospitals for infectious disease belonging to the county) are giver by the Registrar-General in the Annual Summary of Births, Deaths and Causes of Death, and the following table has been prepared from the figures contained in the summary relating to the year 1896— 1 See footnote (1), page 7.

Corrected annual average 1886-95.1896.
Zymotic diseases14,75615,751
Parasitic „9041
Dietetic „529602
Constitutional diseases17,33416,517
Developmental „5,6335,496
Nervous „9,8238,475
Diseases of organs of special sense150190
Circulatory diseases7,1886,881
Respiratory „19,69514,664
Diseases of the Digestive system,4,9505,238
Lymphatic „118119
Urinary2,3142,277
„ „ Generative „547560
„ „ Locomotive ,,359256
,, „ Integumentary system308286
Violence (accident)2,8282,936
Violence (other than accident)527503
Other causes3,2162,719
All Causes90,36583,511

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Principal Zymotic Diseases.
The number of deaths in the administrative county of London from the principal zymotic
diseases, viz., smallpox, measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, whooping cough, typhus, enteric and illdefined
fevers, and diarrhoea during 1896 was 14,028 giving an annual death rate of 3.11 per 1,000
living compared with 2.62 in 1895, 265 in 1894, 3.04 in 1893, 2.80 in 1892 and 2.27 in 1891.
It will be seen from the following table that London, in the period 1886-95, had a higher
death rate from the principal zymotic diseases than any of the undermentioned towns except
Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Salford and West Ham, and in 1895 a higher
death rate than any except Manchester, Birmingham, Hull and Salford.

Table: Principal zymotic diseases—Death rates per 1,000 living.

Principal zymotic diseases—Death rates per 1,000 living.

Towns.1886-95.1896.Towns.1886-95.1896.
London2.723.142Bristol2.021.90
Manchester3.463.42Nottingham2.462.47
Liverpool3.573.01Bradford2.461.58
Birmingham2.733.57Hull2.573.32
Leeds2.832.28Salford4.424.10
Sheffield3.272.91West Ham3.033.00

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The following table shows that the London death rate from the first six of these principal
zymotic diseases, viz., smallpox, measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, whooping cough, and fever was in
1886-95 higher than that of Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin and Vienna, and in 1896 was only
exceeded by that of St. Petersburg.

Table: Six principal zymotic diseases—Death-rates per 1,000 living.

Six principal zymotic diseases—Death-rates per 1,000 living.

Towns.1886-95.1896.Towns.1886-95.1896.
London2.022.423St. Petersburg3.084.32
Paris1.690.73Berlin1.651.04
Brussels1.080.92Vienna1.811.45
Amsterdam1.261.10Rome2.101.10
Copenhagen2.110.81New York2.421.75
Stockholm2.361.09

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2 See footnote (2), page 8.