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 1930
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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It will be seen that the deaths in 1930 were considerably fewer than the figures
for other years shown in the table. This was due to the comparative absence of
epidemic diseases during the year and especially to the low mortality from influenza.
As a consequence of the absence of any influenza epidemic and of a winter not
marked by any abnormally severe weather mortality from diseases of the respiratory
system was also very low.
As compared with 1929 the only cause of death conspicuously higher was that of
measles, which caused 1,027 deaths, as against 206 in 1929.
Deaths attributed to alcoholism show a continuous increase in recent years,
although still small in number. The deaths in 1930 were 22 compared with 15 in
1929 and 7 in 1926. There has, however, been a marked decrease in deaths attributed
to cirrhosis of the liver.
For the first time for a number of years the deaths due to street accidents
show a tendency to decrease, the total being 822 for the 53 weeks of the year as
compared with 814 for the 52 weeks of 1929; among children under 15 years of
age the deaths decreased from 169 to 166.
Infant
mortality.
The death-rates from all causes and from certain specified causes in each
metropolitan borough and in London as a whole will be found in the table on page 10.
It will be seen from the following table that one of the chief causes of the low rate was the decrease in mortality from respiratory diseases.
| Cause of death. | 1911 to 1914. | 1915 to 1918. | 1919 to 1922. | 1923 to 1916. | 1927 to 1930. | 1926. | 1927. | 1928. | 1929. | 1930. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measles | 3.40 | 3.84 | 1.64 | 2.02 | 2.07 | 2.88 | 0.63 | 3.93 | 0.61 | 3.12 |
| Whooping.cough | 3.63 | 4.45 | 2.50 | 2.60 | 3.14 | 1.29 | 3.08 | 2.45 | 615 | 0.89 |
| Influenza | 0.27 | 1.10 | 0.81 | 0.38 | 0.48 | 0.34 | 0.46 | 0.23 | 0.96 | 0.26 |
| Tuberculosis | 3.40 | 3.20 | 1.52 | 1.26 | 0.89 | 114 | 1.05 | 0.95 | 0.77 | 0.79 |
| Bronchitis | 641 | 6.72 | 4.42 | 2.91 | 2.30 | 2.59 | 2.12 | 2.56 | 2.87 | 1.66 |
| Pneumonia | 12.28 | 14.96 | 12.60 | 11.51 | 12.10 | 10.59 | 11.37 | 13.03 | 14.15 | 9.85 |
| Diarrhoea | 24.28 | 1610 | 12.16 | 9.36 | 8.87 | 10.78 | 6.97 | 9.52 | 9.93 | 9.07 |
| Premature birth | 18.16 | 17.42 | 17.00 | 14.74 | 14.17 | 14.11 | 13.94 | 14.22 | 14.81 | 13.71 |
| Congenital defects | 14.69 | 14.66 | 11.26 | 8.39 | 7.38 | 8.12 | 7.17 | 7.60 | 7.65 | 7.11 |
| All causes | 108 | 103 | 79 | 65 | 64 | 64 | 59 | 67 | 71 | 59 |
Infectious Diseases.
The notifications, attack-rates and death-rates for the principal infectious diseases
in London and the constitutent metropolitan boroughs in 1930 are shown
in the tables on pages 10-11.
Typhus fever.
Typhus.—During the year two cases of typhus were notified from Shoreditch
and admitted to the Western Hospital. The diagnosis was, however, not confirmed
by microscopical examination in either case and the patients were discharged.
Smallpox and
Chickenpox.
Smallpox.—The mild type of smallpox which was experienced in London in
the years 1928 and 1929 continued unabated in 1930. As in previous years many
cases which had been missed owing to the benign character of the disease were
discovered during the investigation into the secondary crops of cases to which they
had given rise. A number of cases occurred at hospitals amongst both outpatients
and in-patients, and several common lodging houses were affected. The
vagrant class, however, was not specially involved.