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 1912
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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26
Annual Report of the London County Council, 1912.
The medical officers of health of Paddington and Hampstead show the number of houses in which multiple cases occurred during the year. The particulars are as follows:—
| Metropolitan Borough. | Number of houses in which one or more cases occurred. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One case. | Two oases. | Three cases. | Four eases. | Five cases. | Six cases. | Seven cases. | Eight cases. | Nine cases. | |
| Paddington, 1912 | 400 | 191 | 108 | 36 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - |
| 1911 | 377 | 196 | 97 | 36 | 18 | 2 | — | - | — |
| Hampstead, 1912 | 166 | 65 | 30 | 7 | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| 1911 | 323 | 47 | 17 | 4 | — | — | — | - | — |
Scarlet Fever.
The cases of scarlet fever notified in the Administrative County of London during 1912 (52 weeks)
numbered 11,312, compared with 10,483 in 1911 (52 weeks). The number of deaths registered from
this cause was 159 in the year 1912 (52 weeks), compared with 172 in 1911 (52 weeks).
Scarlet fever
death-rates.
The scarlet fever case-rates, death-rates and case-mortality for 1912 and preceding periods are shown in the following table:—
| Period. | Death-rate per 1,000 persons living. | Case-rate per 1,000 persons living. | Case-mortality per cent. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1861-1870 | 1.13 | -a | - a |
| 1871-1880 | 0.60 | - a | - a |
| 1881-1890 | 0.33 | - a | - a |
| 1891-1900 | 0.196 | 4.8 | 3.8 |
| 1901-1910 | 0.106 | 3.9 | 2.7 |
| 1901 | 0.136 | 4.1 | 3.2 |
| 1902 | 0.126 | 4.0 | 3.1 |
| 1903 | 0.086 | 2.8 | 2.9 |
| 1904 | 0.086 | 3.0 | 2.7 |
| 1905 | 0.126 | 4.3 | 2.8 |
| 1906 | 0.126 | 4.5 | 2.6 |
| 1907 | 0.146 | 5.7 | 2.5 |
| 1908 | 0.126 | 4.8 | 2.5 |
| 1909 | 0.086 | 3.8 | 2.2 |
| 1910 | 0.056 | 2.3 | 2.0 |
| 1911 | 0.046 | 2.3 | 1.6 |
| 1912 | 0.046 | 2.5 | 1.4 |
The death-rate in each year since 1858 in relation to the mean death-rate of the period ] 8591912
will be seen on reference to diagram (I). It will be observed that the death-rate of 1912 was
the lowest recorded in London. The monthly case-rate and case-mortality in each of the years
1891-1912 in relation to the mean of the whole period is shown in diagram (L).
It will be seen from the following table that in the period 1907-11 the London scarlet fever deathrate
was exceeded by that of Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, West Ham, Stoke-onTrent,
Salford and Leicester.
Scarlet fever
death-rates
in large
English
towns.
In 1912 it was exceeded by all except Bristol, Bradford, Hull and Salford.
| Town. | 1907-11. | 1912. | Town. | 1907-11. | 1912. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 0.09b | 0.04b | Bradford | 0.05 | 0.04 |
| Greater London | 0.08 | 0.03 | Hull | 0.04 | 0.00 |
| Liverpool | 0.23 | 0.11 | Newcastle-on-Tyne | 0.07 | 0.13 |
| Manchester | 0.14 | 0.07 | Nottingham | 0.04 | 0.09 |
| Birmingham | 0.16 | 0.18 | Stoke-on-Trent | 0.18 | 0.12 |
| Sheffield | 0.11 | 0.07 | Portsmouth | 0.07 | 0.12 |
| Leeds | 0.07 | 0.09 | Salford | 0.23 | 0.04 |
| Bristol | 0.04 | 0.03 | Leicester | 0.10 | 0.05 |
| West Ham | 0.13 | 0.06 |
The following table shows the notified cases, deaths, case-rates, death-rates, and fatality of
scarlet fever at the several ages and for each sex in London during the year 1912. It will be seen that
at " all ages " the case-rate was highest among females, while the fatality was higher among males.
(n) The Infectious Disease (Notification) Act came into force in 1889. (i) See footnote (c) on page 4.