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 1936
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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32
The distribution of new cases of venereal disease between the sexes is shown in
the following table, the figures for the preceding years being given for comparison:—
Table 38.
| Year | New cases | Total venereal cases | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Syphilis | Soft chancre | Gonorrhœa | ||||||
| M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | |
| 1917 | 4,427 | 3,351 | 199 | 11 | 3,830 | 1,207 | 8,456 | 4,569 |
| 1918 | 3,764 | 3,002 | 116 | 13 | 4,844 | 1,940 | 8,724 | 4,955 |
| 1919 | 6,394 | 3,391 | 463 | 18 | 10,441 | 2,440 | 17,298 | 5,849 |
| 1920 | 6,988 | 3,579 | 766 | 25 | 10,669 | 2,427 | 18,423 | 6,031 |
| 1921 | 5,088 | 3,100 | 458 | 13 | 8,573 | 2,136 | 14,119 | 5,249 |
| 1922 | 4,207 | 2,600 | 309 | 12 | 8,233 | 2,402 | 12,749 | 5,014 |
| 1923 | 4,497 | 2,631 | 311 | 4 | 9,043 | 2,520 | 13,851 | 5,155 |
| 1924 | 4,174 | 2,452 | 301 | 4 | 8,565 | 2,785 | 13,040 | 5,241 |
| 1925 | 3,556 | 2,346 | 268 | 11 | 8,464 | 2,857 | 12,288 | 5,214 |
| 1926 | 3,725 | 2,013 | 301 | 2 | 8,825 | 2,858 | 12,851 | 4,873 |
| 1927 | 3,886 | 2,209 | 203 | 7 | 9,637 | 2,859 | 13,726 | 5,075 |
| 1928 | 3,433 | 1,837 | 229 | 6 | 8,249 | 2,647 | 11,911 | 4,490 |
| 1929 | 3,303 | 1,628 | 276 | 4 | 8,271 | 2,503 | 11,850 | 4,135 |
| 1930 | 3,389 | 1,836 | 347 | 12 | 8,620 | 2,503 | 12,356 | 4,351 |
| 1931 | 3,009 | 1,521 | 326 | 12 | 7,713 | 2,260 | 11,048 | 3,793 |
| 1932 | 3,270 | 1,671 | 172 | 15 | 8,566 | 2,656 | 12,008 | 4,342 |
| 1933 | 3,072 | 1,638 | 185 | 10 | 8,791 | 3,313 | 12,048 | 4,961 |
| 1934 | 2,673 | 1,506 | 159 | 6 | 8,689 | 3,031 | 11,521 | 4,543 |
| 1935 | 2,578 | 1,352 | 336 | 14 | 8,184 | 2,768 | 11,098 | 4,134 |
| 1936* | 1,866 | 1,055 | 275 | 21 | 7,724 | 2,319 | 9,865 | 3,395 |
* The marked decrease in the number of new cases of venereal disease shown in the table for the year
1936 is mainly due to the fact that for the year in question only patients who acknowledged no previous
treatment for their infection at a treatment centre have been included as now cases. New patients who
admitted having received previous treatment at some other centre totalled 1,724, and if these are added
to the total for the year 1936 a figure more strictly comparable with that of previous years is obtained.
With the addition of these cases the totals for 1936 are as follows:—
Males Females
Syphilis 2,283 1,328
Soft chancre 280 21
Gonorrhœa 8,387 2,685
Total 10,950 4,034
It will be seen that the number of new cases of syphilis was the lowest yet
recorded.
With regard to the new cases of venereal disease, information was obtained as
to whether the infection was recently acquired in patients attending the clinics for
the first time during the year 1936, and also as to the number of cases of congenital
syphilis. The returns received from the treatment centres showed that, as regards
syphilis, in approximately 40 per cent. of the new patients the disease was in either
a primary or secondary stage, and, in the case of gonorrhoea, in 91 per cent., the
infection had taken place within a year. Cases of congenital syphilis not known
to have received previous treatment, numbered 265. The age and sex distribution
was as follows:—
Table 39.
| Under 1 year | 1 and under 6 years | 5 and under 15 years | 15 years and over | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. |
| 20 | 21 | 10 | 16 | 26 | 27 | 42 | 103 | 98 | 167 |
Attendances.
The need for improving conditions likely to cause patients to discontinue attendance
at the clinics continues to receive careful attention. Where necessary,
patients are transferred from one clinic to another, which they can attend more