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 1913
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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25
Report of the County Medical Officer—General.
Diphtheria.
The cases of diphtheria (including membranous croup) notified in the Administrative County of
London in 1913 (53 weeks) numbered 7,654, compared with 7,101 in 1912 (52 weeks). The number
of deaths was 431 in 1913 (53 weeks), compared with 452 in 1912 (52 weeks).
It should be borne in mind that the case-rate and case-mortality may be affected by variations
in the extent of use of bacteriological methods of diagnosis, the effect of which is to increase the
number of clinically mild cases of the disease notified.
The diphtheria case-rates, death-rates, and case-mortality in i913, 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 | 0.18 | —a | |
| 1871-1880 | 0.12 | —a | —a |
| 1881-1890 | 0.26 | —a | |
| 1891-1900 | 0.49b | 2.6 | 18.8 |
| 1901-1910 | 0.17b | 1.8 | 9.3 |
| 1901 | 0.29b | 2.7 | 10.9 |
| 1902 | 0.25b | 2.3 | 10.8 |
| 1903 | 0.16b | 1.7 | 9.6 |
| 1904 | 0.16b | 1.6 | 10.0 |
| 1905 | 0.12b | 1.4 | 8.4 |
| 1906 | 0.15b | 1.8 | 8.6 |
| 1907 | 0.17b | 1.9 | 8.9 |
| 1908 | 0.16b | 1.7 | 9.0 |
| 1909 | 0.13b | 1.5 | 9.1 |
| 1910 | 0.10b | 1.2 | 7.9 |
| 1911 | 0.14b | 1.6 | 8.3 |
| 1912 | 0.10b | 1.6 | 6.4 |
| 1913 | 0. 09b | 1.7 | 5.6 |
Diphtheria
death-rates
in London.
The death-rate in each year since 1858 in relation to the mean death-rate of the period 18591913
is shown for diphtheria and also for diphtheria and croup combined in diagram (K).
The monthly case-rate and case-mortality in each of the years 1891-1913 in relation to the mean
of the period is shown in diagram (M).
It the London diphtheria death-rate be compared with the death-rates of the following large English towns, it will be seen that in the quinquennium 1908-12 the London rate was exceeded by that of all except Sheffield, Nottingham and Leicester, and in 1913 was exceeded by the rates of all except Bristol and Leicester.
| Town. | 1908-12. | 1913. | Town. | 1908-12. | 1913. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 0.12b | 0.09b | Bradford | 0.16 | 0.18 |
| Greater London | 0.13 | 0.09 | Hull | 0.15 | 0.11 |
| Liverpool | 0.15 | 0.10 | Newcastle-on-Type | 0.15 | 0.11 |
| Manchester | 0.15 | 0.13 | Nottingham | 0.11 | 0.14 |
| Birmingham | 0.15 | 0.19 | Stoke-on-Trent | 0.31 | 0.38 |
| Sheffield | 0.09 | 0.12 | Portsmouth | 0.32 | 0.35 |
| Leeds | 0.19 | 0.18 | Salford | 0.32 | 0.13 |
| Bristol | 0.14 | 0.08 | Leicester | 0.07 | 0.08 |
| West Ham | 0.16 | 0.10 |
Diphtheria
death-rates
in large
English
owns.
The following table shows the diphtheria cases, deaths, case-rates, and death-rates for the year 1913, and the case-rates and death-rates for the period 1908-12, in the several sanitary districts:—
| Metropolitan borough. | Notified Cases, 1913 (53 weeks). | Case-rate per 1,000 persons living. | Deaths, 1913 (53 weeks). | Death-rate per 1,000 persons living. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1908-12. | 1913. | 1908-12. | 1913. | |||
| Paddington | 304 | 1.23 | 2.10 | 12 | 0.07 | 0.08 |
| Kensington | 145 | 1.12 | 0.83 | 6 | 0.10 | 0.03 |
| Hammersmith | 138 | 1.54 | 1.10 | 12 | 0.16 | 0.10 |
| Fulham | 270 | 2.00 | 1.69 | 14 | 0.17 | 0.09 |
| Chelsea | 61 | 1.47 | 0.93 | 1 | 0.12 | 0.02 |
| Westminster, City of | 192 | 1.07 | 1.22 | 8 | 0.09 | 0.05 |
Diphtheria
cases, deaths
and deathrates
in
London
boroughs.
(a) The Infectious Disease (Notification) Act came into force in 1889. (b) See footnote (c) page 6.
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