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 1906
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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| Age-period. | 0- | 5- | 10- | 15- | 20- | 25- | 35- | 45- | 55- | 65- | 75- | 85 and upwards. | All ages. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finsbury | 6 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 9 | 41 | 44 | 43 | 35 | 8 | 3 | – | 209 |
| London, City of | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 3 | – | – | 39 |
| Shoreditch | 13 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 18 | 41 | 73 | 56 | 17 | 4 | 1 | – | 238 |
| Bethnal Green | 19 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 72 | 59 | 61 | 32 | 15 | 2 | – | 292 |
| Stepney | 18 | 11 | 6 | 26 | 38 | 126 | 133 | 101 | 50 | 14 | 5 | – | 528 |
| Poplar | 7 | 2 | 9 | 19 | 25 | 47 | 76 | 57 | 15 | 8 | – | – | 265 |
| Southwark | 14 | 4 | 4 | 26 | 28 | 84 | 131 | 91 | 34 | 14 | 3 | – | 433 |
| Bermondsey | 13 | 5 | 5 | 18 | 21 | 54 | 75 | 36 | 19 | 8 | 2 | – | 256 |
| Lambeth | 13 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 25 | 95 | 103 | 81 | 58 | 20 | 10 | – | 429 |
| Battersea | 8 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 29 | 54 | 48 | 37 | 28 | 6 | 2 | – | 229 |
| Wandsworth | 7 | 2 | 6 | 15 | 27 | 70 | 53 | 52 | 28 | 12 | 2 | – | 274 |
| Camberwell | 8 | 8 | 2 | 27 | 36 | 76 | 74 | 73 | 30 | 6 | 2 | – | 342 |
| Deptford | 9 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 16 | 30 | 40 | 24 | 14 | 3 | – | – | 147 |
| Greenwich | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 20 | 19 | 31 | 27 | 8 | 5 | – | 1 | 127 |
| Lewisham | 3 | – | 1 | 9 | 17 | 34 | 26 | 15 | 16 | 3 | – | – | 124 |
| Woolwich | 2 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 19 | 42 | 26 | 46 | 9 | 14 | – | – | 171 |
| 351 |
The following table shows the mortality from phthisis in groups of London sanitary districts
arranged in respect to the proportion of their population living more than two in a room in tenements
of less than five rooms.
London, 1901-6.
| Percentage of overcrowding in each group of sanitary areas. | Crude phthisis death-rate per 1,000 persons living. | Standard death-rate.2 | Factor for correction for age and sex distribution. | Corrected death-rate per 1,001) persons living. | Corrected death-rate (London, 1,000). |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 7.5 per cent. | 1.086 | 1.718 | 1.00991 | 1.097 | 711 |
| 7.5 to 12.5 per cent. | 1.359 | 1.705 | 1.01761 | 1.383 | 897 |
| 12.5 to 20 per cent. | 1.478 | 1.771 | 0.97969 | 1.448 | 939 |
| 20.0 to 27.5 per cent. | 2.046 | 1.805 | 0.96124 | 1.967 | 1,276 |
| Over 27.5 per cent. | 2.047 | 1.651 | 1.05090 | 2.151 | 1,395 |
The annual reports show increase of effort to limit the prevalence of tuberculous phthisis by
applying to cases of this disease the methods usually adopted for the limitation of acute infectious diseases.
A system of voluntary notification of cases of phthisis has been adopted in a number of London
sanitary districts, and the number of cases notified in the several areas in 1906 was as follows:—
Kensington 252
Hammersmith 105
Fulham 148
Chelsea 22
Westminster 78
St. Marylebone 248
Hampstead 35
St. Pancras 207
Islington 64
Stoke Newington 25
Hackney (6 months) 44
Holborn 191
Finsbury 217
Southwark 399
Bermondsey 170
Lambeth 322
Wandsworth 74
Greenwich 112
Lewisham (5 months) 76
Woolwich 176
Notification is followed in the large majority of cases by visits to the home and advice as to
the precautions which should be taken by the sufferer. Disinfection is usually carried out after
removal or death.
The demand for larger measures for dealing with the disease is undoubtedly growing, and the
compulsory notification of cases of the disease is more widely advocated. The desire for such notification,
which is based on the fact that but a small proportion of the cases occurring are brought to the
knowledge of the sanitary authorities, is manifested in a number of the annual reports, and was the
subject of a resolution passed in favour of this requirement by the Metropolitan Branch of the
Society of Medical Officers of Health. With the desire for compulsory notification of phthisis is the
further desire for opportunity for the treatment of phthisical patients in sanatoria, and for the
removal from their homes of persons who are in an advanced stage of the disease. In one instance
the Medical Officer of Health writes : " Arrangements should also be made for the isolation or segregation
in sanatoria of all advanced cases, which are a source of such danger to others living in the same rooms.
This isolation might, with advantage, be made compulsory by new legislation." The view here
expressed is no doubt more advanced than that which is usually held, but it is the view of a responsible
1 See footnote (1), page 17.
2 See footnote (2), page 49.