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 1903
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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Proportion of cases of diphtheria removed to hospital.
It will be seen from diagram XI. that the proportion of cases of diphtheria admitted to
the hospitals of the Metropolitan Asylums Board was slightly greater in 1903 than in the preceding
year.
Diphtheria—Age and sex distribution.
The following table shows the cases, deaths, case.rates, death-rates and fatality of
diphtheria at the several ages, and for each sex in London during the year 1903. The incidence
of attack at "all ages" was, as in preceding years, greater on females than on males. The death.
rate and fatality were also higher among females than among males at "all ages." In the age.
groups adopted for the purposes of this table the greatest incidence of attack was upon both males
and females of four years of age; the greatest incidence of death was upon males of two, and
females of one year of age. The fatality was greatest both among males and females under one
year of age—
| Age.period. | Males. | Females. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 3,613 | 349 | 9.7 | 166 | 16 | 4,125 | 413 | 10.0 | 169 | 17 |
| 0— | 98 | 31 | 31.6 | 175 | 55 | 78 | 25 | 32.1 | 140 | 45 |
| 1— | 281 | 63 | 22.4 | 567 | 127 | 249 | 77 | 30.9 | 502 | 155 |
| 2— | 379 | 68 | 17.9 | 757 | 136 | 324 | 71 | 21.9 | 649 | 142 |
| 3— | 442 | 47 | 10.6 | 906 | 96 | 430 | 66 | 15.3 | 871 | 134 |
| 4— | 440 | 47 | 10.7 | 922 | 98 | 445 | 39 | 8.8 | 937 | 82 |
| 5— | 1,130 | 76 | 6.7 | 504 | 34 | 1,402 | 109 | 7.8 | 620 | 48 |
| 10— | 366 | 9 | 2.5 | 173 | 4 | 474 | 15 | 3.2 | 220 | 7 |
| 15— | 169 | 3 | 1.8 | 80 | 1 | 187 | 2 | 1.1 | 79 | 1 |
| 20— | 102 | 2 | 2.0 | 46 | 1 | 170 | 1 | 0.6 | 64 | 0 |
| 25— | 137 | 2 | 1.5 | 36 | 1 | 231 | 2 | 0.9 | 52 | 0 |
| 35— | 52 | — | — | 18 | — | 96 | — | — | 30 | — |
| 45— | 10 | — | — | 5 | — | 25 | 2 | 8.0 | 11 | 1 |
| 55 and upwards | 7 | 1 | 14.3 | 4 | 1 | 14 | 4 | 28.6 | 5 | 2 |
Whooping Cough.
The deaths from whooping cough in the administrative county of London in 1903 numbered
1,627, compared with 1,876 in 1902.
The death-rates from this disease in 1903 and preceding periods have been as follows—
| Period. | Death-rate per 1,000 living. | Period. | Death-rate per 1,000 living. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1851-60 | 0.88 | 1895 | 0.342 |
| 1861-70 | 0.88 | 1896 | 0.652 |
| 1871-80 | 0.81 | 1897 | 0.422 |
| 1881-90 | 0.69 | 1898 | 0.482 |
| 1891 | 0.682 | 1899 | 0.3S2 |
| 1892 ...... | 0.582 | 1900 | 0.432 |
| 1893 | 0.542 | 1901 | 0.352 |
| 1894 | 0.492 | 1902 | 0.402 |
| 1903 | 0.352 |
The death-rate in each year in relation to the mean death-rate of the period 1841.1903 is
shown in diagram XIII.
It will be seen from the following table that the London whooping-cough death-rate was
in the decennium 1893.1902 greater than the death-rates of any of the following large English
towns except Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, "West Ham, Salford, and Newcastle, and in
1903 it was exceeded by the death-rates of Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, "West Ham,
Nottingham, and Salford—
1 See footnote (1), page 25.
2 See footnote (1), 1 age 7.