London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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London County Council 1913

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]

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218 Annual Report of the London County Council, 1913.

In each of these families one or more of the children presented definite signs of inherited syphilis.

Pregnancies for each mother. (1)Families. (2)"Healthy" children. (3)Miscarriages. (4)Stillborn. (5)Infant-deaths. (6)Diseased. (7)
181 110--71
17162711
1611141
15162151
1431157136
13517410268
1242167113
111050863313
1073283189
910331172217
816542471727
71550941824
61424381425
5112336617
41722451918
3131621317
210411311
111---11
1,0011503909280229210

Column (3), "healthy" children, includes all those reported healthy by their parents or
guardians, and it also includes those who died from accidental causes and febrile conditions in the
years from three and onward where there was no reason to conclude the disorder was directly
connected with the syphilitic diathesis or consequent defective vitality. In the 11 families where
one child only was born to the mother there are included three or four illegitimate unions and the
progeny therefrom.
To obtain some standard against which the foregoing returns of family history may be compared
Mr. Harman enquired into the family history of a number of women who were attending the West
London Hospital. This hospital has a very large clientele amongst the poorest and most deserving
of charity of the patients attending any of the great London hospitals. On the average these women
are, if anything, a little poorer than the average of the parents of the children whose family
histories are included in the foregoing table. Enquiries were made of 150 women. There was no
selection of cases, except that persons of known syphilitic history were excluded, but no special
methods were adopted to ascertain this.

The following return may, therefore, be taken as a fair average return of family history of the poorest section of the London community.

Number of pregnanceis for each mother. (1)Families. (2)Healthy children. (3)Miscarriages. (4)Stillborn. (5)Infant deaths. (6)
17193-5
161113-2
15219137
141122--
133284-7
12325434
11655227
10643638
9751417
89558-9
76315-6
617836112
51562526
417574-7
32568313
22035113
11110--1
826150654611794

The difference between the figures of these two tables is marked. Where there was a history
of syphilis 150 mothers had no less than 1,001 pregnancies; but of these only 390 resulted in presumably
healthy children. Among 150 "average" mothers there were 826 nreenancies. and from these there resulted 654
presumably healthy children.

The outcome of the pregnancies in the two classes of cases can be best compared by the rate per thousand births as follows;—

"Healthy" children. (1)Miscarriages. (2)Stillborn. (3)Infant deaths. (4)Diseased. (5)
Syphilitic3909280229210
"Average"791.773.820.5113.8none.