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 1909
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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In three reports, viz., those relating to Stoke Newington, Lambeth and Greenwich, reference is
made to the fact that the medical officers keep a supply of antitoxic serum for the use of medical
practitioners. The importance of making antitoxic serum available so that it may be used without
delay is emphasised by the experience of the Metropolitan Asylums Board, gained in the treatment of
cases of diphtheria in the hospitals of that Board. Of cases treated with this serum in those hospitals
in 1908, the mortality was as follows:—Cases in which the treatment was begun on the first day of
the illness 30 per cent.; on the second day of the illness, 6.5 per cent.; on the third day, 10.6 per
cent. ; on the fourth day, 12 9 per cent; and on the fifth day and later, 14.8 per cent.
Proportion of cases of diphtheria removed to hospital.
It will be seen from diagram XIII. that the proportion of cases of diphtheria removed to the
hospitals of the Metropolitan Asylums Board was about the same as in the preceding year.
Proportion of cases erroneously certified.
Cases certified to be those of diphtheria and admitted into the hospitals of the Metropolitan
Asylums Board, but in which the diagnosis was not subsequently confirmed, constituted the following
percentage of total cases admitted in successive years:—
| Year. | Percentage. | Year. | Percentage. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 12.8 | 1906 | 15.5 | |
| 1902 | 13.5 | 1907 | 17.0 | |
| 1903 | 14.7 | 1908 | 18.1 | |
| 1904 | 16.1 | 1909 | 16.8 | |
| 1905 | 18.0 |
Whooping-cough.
The deaths from whooping-cough in the Administrative County of London during the year 1909
(52 weeks) numbered 1.246, as compared with 984 in 1908 (53 weeks).
The death-rates from this disease in 1909 and preceding periods have been as follows:—
| Period. | Death-rate per 1,000 persons living. | Period. | Death-rate per 1,000 persons living. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1841-50 | 0.87 | 1903 | 0.351 |
| 1851-60 | 0.88 | 1904 | 0.321 |
| 1861-70 | 0.88 | 1905 | 0.321 |
| 1871-80 | 0.81 | 1906 | 0.261 |
| 1881-90 | 0.69 | 1907 | 0.381 |
| 1891-1900 | 0.50 | 1908 | 0.201 |
| 1901 | 0.351 | 1909 | 0.261 |
| 1902 | 0.40 |
The following are the death-rates of children under five years of age.
| Period. | Death-rate per 1,000 children living at ages 0-5. | Period. | Death-rate per 1,000 children living at ages 0-5. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1851-60 | 6.56 | 1903 | 3.162 |
| 1861-70 | 6.53 | 1904 | 2.912 |
| 1871-80 | 6.02 | 1905 | 2.872 |
| 1881-90 | 5.34 | 1906 | 2.332 |
| 1891-1900 | 4.212 | 1907 | 3.372 |
| 1901 | 3.132 | 1908 | 1.842 |
| 1902 | 3.562 | 1909 | 2.402 |
The death-rate in each year since 1840 in relation to the mean of the period 1841-1909 is shown
in diagram XV., while the deaths in each month since 1890 in relation to the mean monthly deaths
of the period 1891-1909 are shown in diagram VIII., page 33.
1 See footnote (2), page 6.
2 Including deaths of Londoners in the Metropolitan Workhouses, Hospitals, and Lunatic Asylums outside
the County, but excluding those of non-Londoners in the London Fever Hospital, the West Ham Union Workhouse
at Hackney, the Metropolitan Asylums Hospitals and the Middlesex County Asylum, within the County of London.
2067 G