Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
This page requires JavaScript
24
Principal Epidemic Diseases.
The number of deaths in the administrative county of London from the principal epidemic
diseases, viz.—smallpox, measles, scarlet fever, diptheria, whooping-cough, typhus, enteric, and
ill-defined fevers and diarrhœa during 1902 (53 weeks) was 10,280, giving an annual death-rate
of 2.21 per 1,000 living.
The death-rates in each year since 1890 have been as follows—
Year. | Death-rate from principal epidemic diseases. |
---|---|
1891 | 2.271 |
1892 | 2.801 |
1893 | 3.041 |
1894 | 2.651 |
1895 | 2.621 |
1896 | 3.111 |
1897 | 2.581 |
1898 | 2.801 |
1899 | 2.491 |
1900 | 2.231 |
1901 | 2.221 |
1902 | 2.211 |
It will be seen from the following table that London in the period 1892-1901 had a
lower death-rate from these diseases than any of the undermentioned towns except Bristol,
Nottingham, Bradford and Newcastle, and in 1902 a higher death-rate from these diseases than
any except Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol, Hull, Salford, and West Ham.
Towns. | 1892-1901. | 1902. | Towns. | 1892-1901. | 1902. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nottingham | 2.62 | 1.32 | |||
Manchester | 3.41 | 1.99 | Bradford | 2.16 | 1.43 |
Liverpool | 3.40 | 3.08 | Hull | 3.18 | 2.27 |
Birmingham | 3.01 | 2.53 | Salford | 4.38 | 2.67 |
Leeds | 2.79 | 1.99 | West Ham | 3.53 | 3.20 |
Sheffield | 3.48 | 1.69 | Leicester | 3.11 | 1.54 |
Bristol | 1.93 | 2.82 | Newcastle | 2.29 | 1.75 |
The following table shows that the London death-rate from the first six of these principal
epidemic diseases, viz.—smallpox, measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, whooping-cough and fever
was both in the period 1892-1901 and in 1902 higher than that of any of these towns except
St. Petersburg.
Towns. | 1892-1901. | 1902. | Towns. | 1892-1901. | 1902. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
St. Petersburg | 3.34 | 2.30 | |||
Paris | 1.03 | 0.91 | Berlin | 1.29 | 0.76 |
Brussels | 0.85 | 0.57 | Vienna | 1.43 | 1.00 |
Amsterdam | 0.76 | 1.31 | Rome | 1.08 | 1.61 |
Copenhagen | 1.24 | 0.75 | New York | 1.58 | 1.47 |
Stockholm | 1.45 | 0.49 |
The following table shows the deaths from the principal epidemic diseases and the death-rates per 1,000 living in each of the metropolitan boroughs in 1902—
Metropolitan borough. | Deaths in 1902. | Death-rate per 1,000 living. | Metropolitan borough. | Deaths in 1902. | Death-rate per 1,000 living. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Paddington | 256 | 1.74 | Shoreditch | 425 | 3.53 |
Kensington | 265 | 1.49 | Bethnal-green | 339 | 2.56 |
Hammersmith | 222 | 1.90 | Stepney | 1,009 | 3.31 |
Fulham | 454 | 3.13 | Poplar | 476 | 2.77 |
Chelsea | 155 | 2.06 | Southwark | 653 | 3.10 |
Westminster, City of | 234 | 1.28 | Bermondsey | 405 | 3.06 |
St. Marylebone | 267 | 1.98 | Lambeth | 581 | 1.86 |
Hampstead | 68 | 0.81 | Battersea | 346 | 1.98 |
St. Pancras | 590 | 2.46 | Wandsworth | 402 | 1.62 |
Islington | 614 | 1.80 | Camberwell | 596 | 2.23 |
Stoke Newington | 61 | 1.17 | Deptford | 277 | 2.44 |
Hackney | 443 | 1.98 | Greenwich | 159 | 1.59 |
Holborn | 146 | 2.44 | Lewisham | 241 | 1.79 |
Finsbury | 325 | 3.18 | Woolwich | 235 | 1.93 |
London, City of | 36 | 1.38 | |||
1 See footnote (1), page 12. | 2 See footnote (1), page 13. |