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 1908
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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44
No accurate comparison can be made of the deaths from epidemic diarrhoea for a long series
of years in London ; diagram XX, however, shows the death-rate from cholera, dysentery, and diarrhoea
combined, in each year since 1840 in relation to the mean death-rate of the period 1841-1908.
The following table shows that the London diarrhoea death-rate was in the decennium 18981907
lower than the death-rate of any of the undermentioned large English towns, except Bristol,
Bradford and Newcastle-on-Tyne, and in 1908 was lower than that of any except Bristol,
Newcastle-on-Tyne, and Leicester:—
| Town. | 1898-1907. | 1908. | Town. | 1898-1907. | 1908. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 0.771 | 0.531 | West Ham | 1.49 | 1.00 |
| Liverpool | 1.49 | 0.84 | Bradford | 0.65 | 0.65 |
| Manchester | 1.31 | 0.92 | Newcastle-on-Tyne | 0.69 | 0.46 |
| Birmingham | 1.22 | 0.80 | Hull | 1.38 | 1.36 |
| Leeds | 0.91 | 0.67 | Nottingham | 1.13 | 0.64 |
| Sheffield | 1.45 | 0.87 | Salford | 1.41 | 0.98 |
| Bristol | 0.56 | 0.34 | Leicester | 1.07 | 0.50 |
The deaths and death-rates from diarrhoea for the year 1908, and the death-rates for the period
1903-07 in each of the sanitary areas of London, are shown in the following table :—
The deaths and death-rates from diarrhoea for the year 1908, and the death-rates for the period 1903-7 in each of the sanitary areas of London, are shown in the following table:-
| Sanitary area. | Deaths, 1908 (53 weeks). | Death-rate per 1,000 persons living. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1903-7. | 1908. | ||
| Paddington | 52 | 0.60 | 0.34 |
| Kensington | 89 | 0.58 | 0.48 |
| Hammersmith | 74 | 0.75 | 0.59 |
| Fulham | 113 | 1.18 | 0.65 |
| Chelsea | 36 | 0.51 | 0.47 |
| Westminster, City of | 42 | 0.34 | 0.24 |
| St. Marylebone | 39 | 0.50 | 0.30 |
| Hampstead | 12 | 0.17 | 0.13 |
| St. Pancras | 88 | 0.52 | 0.37 |
| Islington | 112 | 0.50 | 0.32 |
| Stoke Newington | 19 | 0.42 | 0.35 |
| Hackney | 163 | 0.77 | 0.68 |
| Holborn | 23 | 0.51 | 0.42 |
| Finsbury | 95 | 0.93 | 0.97 |
| London, City of | 2 | 0.23 | 0.10 |
| Shoreditch | 117 | 1.28 | 1.00 |
| Bethnal Green | 102 | 0.94 | 0.77 |
| Stepney | 262 | 1.10 | 0.83 |
| Poplar | 155 | 1.20 | 0.89 |
| South wark | 188 | 0.95 | 0.88 |
| Bermondsey | 109 | 1.04 | 0.84 |
| Lambeth | 141 | 0.70 | 0.43 |
| Battersea | 83 | 0.72 | 0.44 |
| Wandsworth | 104 | 0.61 | 0.35 |
| Camberwell | 126 | 0.63 | 0.44 |
| Deptford | 75 | 0.78 | 0.63 |
| Greenwich | 60 | 0.71 | 0.54 |
| Lewisham | 63 | 0.52 | 0.40 |
| Woolwich | 48 | 0.68 | 0.36 |
| London | 2,592 | 0.731 | 0.531 |
It will be seen from the foregoing table that the diarrhoea death-rate was in the period 1903-7
highest in Shoreditch (1.28), and lowest in Hampstead (0.17); in the year 1908, Shoreditch (100) had
again the highest death-rate, the lowest obtaining in the City of London (0.10). The diarrhoea deathrates
in London in each of the four quarters of the year 1908,were as follows : first quarter, 017;
second quarter, 0.15 ; third quarter, 1.36 ; and fourth quarter, 0 46, per 1,000 persons living.
(') See footnote (1), page 8.