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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| Age period. | Cases. | Deaths. | Case mortality per cent. | Rates per 100,000 living. | Cases. | Deaths. | Case mortality per cent. | Rates per 100,000 living. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cases, | Deaths. | Cases. | Deaths. | ||||||||
| All ages. | 1,778 | 349 | 19.6 | 85 | 17 | 1,412 | 226 | 16.0 | 61 | 10 | |
| 0— | 2 | 2 | 15.2 | 38 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 17.1 | 31 | 5 | |
| 1— | 14 | 1 | 4 | 3 | |||||||
| 2— | 17 | 2 | 9 | 2 | |||||||
| 3— | 27 | 7 | 37 | 3 | |||||||
| 4— | 39 | 3 | 27 | 3 | |||||||
| 5— | 241 | 29 | 12.0 | 102 | 12 | 195 | 17 | 8.7 | 81 | 7 | |
| 10— | 283 | 28 | 9.9 | 131 | 13 | 229 | 24 | 10.5 | 104 | 11 | |
| 15— | 286 | 57 | 19.9 | 138 | 27 | 219 | 41 | 18.7 | 95 | 18 | |
| 20— | 238 | 53 | 22 3 | 117 | 26 | 197 | 33 | 16.7 | 80 | 13 | |
| 25— | 374 | 77 | 20.6 | 107 | 22 | 283 | 49 | 17.3 | 70 | 12 | |
| 35— | 156 | 50 | 32.1 | 60 | 19 | 125 | 26 | 20.8 | 44 | 9 | |
| 45— | 65 | 25 | 38.5 | 36 | 14 | 59 | 12 | 20.3 | 29 | 6 | |
| 55 and up wards. | 36 | 15 | 41.7 | 21 | 9 | 23 | 10 | 43.5 | 10 | 4 | |
Diarrhcea.
The deaths in the administrative county of London attributed to diarrhoea and dysentery in the
year 1896 numbered 3,199, compared with 3,581 in 1895.
The death rates per 1,000 living in 1896 and preceding periods were as follows—
1851-60 1.03 1892 0.601
1861-70 1.04 1893 0.80l
1871-80 0.95 1894 0.411
1881-90 0.75 1895 0.821
1891 0.571 1896 0 .711
The diarrhoea death rate each year since 1840 in relation to the mean death rate of the period
1841-96 is shown in diagram XVIII. The mean temperature of the summer quarter of each year in
relation to the mean of the period 1841-96 is also shown. The intimate relation between the
temperature of the summer quarter and the amount of diarrhoea mortality will be seen.
The age distribution of the deaths from this disease in the registration county of London in 1896
was as follows—
Under 1 1-5. 5-20 20-40. 40-60. 60-80. 80 and
year. upwards.
2,572 413 11 19 43 127 38
It will be seen from the following table that the London death rate from diarrhcea was lower
than that of any of the undermentioned towns except Bristol in the period 1886-95, and in the year
1896 was lower than that of any except Leeds, Bristol, Nottingham and Bradford.
| Towns. | Ten years, 1886-95. | 1896. | Towns. | Ten years, 1886-95. | 1896. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol | .49 | .52 | |||
| Manchester | 110 | .94 | Nottingham | 1.03 | .69 |
| Liverpool | 113 | 1.16 | Bradford | .89 | .38 |
| Birmingham | 110 | 1.20 | Hull | 1.24 | .90 |
| Leeds | 113 | .69 | Salford | 1.46 | 1.23 |
| Sheffield | 118 | 1.02 | |||
| West Ham ... | •80 | •81 |
The London death rate from diarrhoea in the four quarters of the year was O.11 0"24, 2'37 and
0'16, In the third quarter the eastern group of districts had the highest death rate (3'08) and the
north and west the lowest (2.02 and 2.01 respectively), while of the several districts Clerkenwell had the
highest death rate (4.48) and the City the lowest (0.38). In the whole year the eastern group had the
1 See footnote ('), page 7.
2 See footnote (2), page 8.