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 1907
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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The following table shows that in the decennium 1897-1906 the London diphtheria death-rate
exceeded that of any of the under-mentioned foreign towns, except Stockholm, St. Petersburg and
New York, and in 1907 was higher than that of any of these towns except St. Petersburg, Berlin,
Vienna and New York:—
| Town. | 1897-1906. | 1907. | Town. | 1897-1906. | 1907. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 0.161 | St. Petersburg | 0.61 | |||
| Paris | 0.14 | 0.08 | Berlin | 0.22 | ||
| Brussels | 0.10 | 0.09 | Vienna | 0.25 | 0.17 | |
| 0.12 | Rome | 0.09 | 0.11 | |||
| Copenhagen | 0.13 | 0.07 | New York | 0.52 | 0.41 | |
| Stockholm | 0.38 | 0.10 | ||||
The following table shows the diphtheria cases, deaths, case-rates, and death-rates for the year
1907, the case-rates for the decennium 1897-1906, and the death-rates for the period 1902-6, in the
several sanitary districts:—
| Sanitary area. | Notified Cases, 1907 (52 weeks). | Case-rate per 1,000 persons living. | Deaths, 1907. (62 weeks). | Death-rate per 1,000 persons living. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1897-1906. | 1907. | 1902-6. | 1907. | |||
| Paddington | 169 | ( 1.6 | 1.1 | 20 | 0.11 | 0.13 |
| Kensington | 250 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 24 | 0.10 | 0.13 |
| Hammersmith | 215 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 18 | 0.19 | 0.15 |
| Fulham | 605 | 3.1 | 3.6 | 38 | 0.20 | 0.23 |
| Chelsea | 158 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 7 | 0.11 | 0.09 |
| Westminster, City of | 145 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 17 | 0.08 | 0.10 |
| St. Marylebone | 128 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 16 | 0.13 | 0.12 |
| Hampstead | 112 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 7 | 0.08 | 0.08 |
| St. Pancras | 349 | 2.2 | 1.5 | 30 | 0.20 | 0.13 |
| Islington | 482 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 41 | 0.14 | 0.12 |
| Stoke Newington | 118 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 7 | 0.11 | 0.13 |
| Hackney | 543 | 3.0 | 2.3 | 47 | 0.18 | 0.20 |
| Holborn | 64 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 10 | 0.11 | 0.18 |
| Finsbury | 155 | 2.7 | 1.6 | 16 | 0.20 | 0.17 |
| London, City of | 28 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 5 | 0.15 | 0.25 |
| Shoreditch | 223 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 20 | 0.17 | 0.17 |
| Bethnal Green | 290 | 3.0 | 2.2 | 18 | 0.24 | 0.14 |
| Stepney | 751 | 2.7 | 2.4 | 93 | 0.23 | 0.30 |
| Poplar | 360 | 3.2 | 2.1 | 50 | 0.32 | 0.29 |
| Southwark | 422 | 2.9 | 2.0 | 36 | 0.18 | 0.17 |
| Bermondsey | 319 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 21 | 0.18 | 0.16 |
| Lambeth | 327 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 47 | 0.13 | 0.15 |
| Battersea | 359 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 38 | 0.10 | 0.21 |
| Wandsworth | 636 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 40 | 0.18 | 0.14 |
| Camberwell | 405 | 2.6 | 1.5 | 39 | 0.15 | 0.14 |
| Deptford | 318 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 25 | 0.19 | 0.22 |
| Greenwich | 257 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 18 | 0.19 | 0.17 |
| Lewisham | 302 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 18 | 0.15 | 0.12 |
| Woolwich | 279 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 15 | 0.17 | 0.12 |
| Port of London | 2 | — | — | — | — | |
| London | 8,771 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 781 | 0.171 | 0.161 |
It will be seen from the foregoing table that in the period 1902-6 the diphtheria death-rate was
highest in Poplar (0.32) and lowest in the City of Westminster (0.08) and Hampstead (0.08); in the
year 1907, Stepney (0.30) had the highest death-rate, and Hampstead (0.08) the lowest. The
diphtheria death-rates in each of the four quarters of the year 1907 were as follows: first quarter, 0.19;
second quarter, 0.13; third quarter, 0.14; and fourth quarter, 0.20 per 1,000 persons living.
To enable the variations in diphtheria prevalence in the several sanitary areas to be more
clearly appreciated, the following table has been prepared. This table shows the comparative case-rates
of each area in each of the years 1891-1907 inclusive, i.e., the case-rates of each area are shown
in relation to the London case-rate of the same year, the London rates being taken as 100 —
1 See footnote (1), page 8.