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 1934
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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39
Table 15.—Census of chronic invalids, November, 1934, and the four preceding years.
| Ailment. | Cases. | Percentage of total. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1930. | 1931. | 1932. | 1933. | 1934. | 1930. | 1931. | 1932. | 1933. | 1934. | |
| Rheumatism, heart disease and chorea | 678 | 546 | 550 | 608 | 320 | 32.82 | 33.67 | 31.87 | 33.40 | 36.00 |
| Nervous disorders | 99 | 93 | 65 | 95 | 59 | 4.80 | 5.74 | 3.76 | 5.20 | 6.64 |
| Tuberculosis (all forms) | 295 | 212 | 219 | 209 | 79 | 14.28 | 13.07 | 12.68 | 11.50 | 8.90 |
| Anaemia and debility | 129 | 52 | 77 | 75 | 40 | 6.24 | 3.21 | 4.46 | 4.10 | 4.53 |
| Ringworm | 22 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 1.06 | 0.55 | 0.29 | 0.22 | 0.56 |
| Skin complaints (excluding ringworm) | 49 | 38 | 45 | 51 | 25 | 2.37 | 2.34 | 2.61 | 2.80 | 2.82 |
| Eye disease | 72 | 70 | 63 | 76 | 8 | 3.49 | 4.31 | 3.65 | 4.10 | 0.91 |
| Infectious diseases | 73 | 34 | 90 | 70 | 45 | 3.53 | 2.10 | 5.22 | 3.80 | 5.07 |
| Other defects | 649 | 568 | 612 | 632 | 307 | 31.41 | 35.01 | 35.46 | 34.88 | 34.57 |
| Total | 2,066 | 1,622 | 1,726 | 1,820 | 888 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
Infectious diseases in schools.
The numbers of cases of infectious illness reported by head teachers as occurring Day
among school children during 1934, compared with similar figures reported during the
preceding six years, are shown below:—
Table 16.
| Year. | Diphtheria. | Scarlet fever. | Measles and German measles. | Whooping cough. | Chicken -pox. | Mumps. | Scabies. | Ophthalmia. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1928 | 5,178 | 7,505 | 41,891 | 8,592 | 13,657 | 5,744 | 901 | 408 |
| 1929 | 5,081 | 7,462 | 19,313 | 12,076 | 12,346 | 14,010 | 932 | 644 |
| 1930 | 5,297 | 7,558 | 34,251 | 3,239 | 13,573 | 9,439 | 930 | 506 |
| 1931 | 3,202 | 5,626 | 3,811 | 9,019 | 13,598 | 5,685 | 1,068 | 889 |
| 1932 | 3,338 | 6,832 | 34,922 | 7,624 | 11,440 | 8,016 | 1,160 | 649 |
| 1933 | 4,446 | 11,357 | 14,130 | 8,373 | 10,863 | 9,591 | 1,091 | 427 |
| 1934 | 5,439 | 8,850 | 37.701 | 5,029 | 10,283 | 6,354 | 1,131 | 554 |
The number of cases of smallpox notified (and confirmed) among school children
during the year was 46, compared with 419 in 1932 and 170 in 1933.
Special investigations into the occurrence of the infectious diseases specified
in the following table were carried out by the school medical staff during the year:—
Table 17.
| Division. | Diphtheria. | Scarlet fever. | Smallpox. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of visits. | Number of depts. visited. | Number of children examined. | Number of visits. | Number of depts. visited. | Number of children examined. | Number of visits. | Number of children examined. | |
| N.E. | 30 | 26 | 2,994 | 27 | 25 | 3,522 | _ | _ |
| N. | 22 | 18 | 1,369 | 37 | 33 | 4,819 | 2 | 340 |
| N.W. | 38 | 30 | 3,458 | 28 | 22 | 3,133 | — | — |
| S.W. | 59 | 43 | 5,258 | 73 | 56 | 9,918 | 1 | 80 |
| S.E. | 32 | 26 | 2,311 | 69 | 55 | 6,995 | — | — |
| Total | 181 | 143 | 15,390 | 234 | 191 | 28,387 | 3 | 420 |
The children in four schools were also specially examined from time to time on
account of outbreaks of ophthalmia.
In addition to investigations by medical officers, valuable work was done by
the school nursing staff in following up in the schools the medical officers' visits in
connection with the occurrence of scarlet fever, diphtheria, smallpox and ophthalmia,
as well as in the special visitation of the schools where there were outbreaks of
whooping-cough and chickenpox, mumps, measles, German measles and scabies.