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 1938
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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11
The deaths in childbirth in 1938 are shown in the above table but not the death
rates, as, owing to the smallness of the figures, the rates for a single year in any
metropolitan borough may be misleading. The maternal mortality rates for each
metropolitan borough in 1938 and for London as a whole annually since 1924 are,
however, set out in tables 27 and 29. The death-rates per 1,000 live births in
London and England and Wales in recent years are shown in the following table:—
Table 20
| 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puerperal fever, London | 1.31 | 1.59 | 1.88 | 1.93 | 2.01 | 1.33 | 1.69 | 1 34 | 1.15 | 0.75 | 0.84 | 0.79 |
| England and Wales | 1.57 | 1.79 | 1.80 | 1.92 | 1.66 | 1.61 | 1.83 | 2.03 | 1.68 | 1.39 | 0.98 | 0.89 |
| Other causes, London | 1.50 | 2.00 | 1.73 | 1.40 | 1.80 | 1.66 | 1.97 | 1.46 | 1.43 | 1.23 | 1.45 | 1.12 |
| England and Wales | 2.54 | 2.63 | 2.53 | 2.48 | 2.45 | 2.60 | 2.68 | 2.57 | 2.42 | 2.41 | 2.28 | 2.19 |
7 line
Birth
not
total
There were 191 notifications of fevers of the enteric group in London in 1938
compared with 216 in 1937. The deaths numbered 12 as against 17 in 1937. The
mortality from enteric fever has thus been maintained at the low level to which
it has been reduced during the present century.
Enteric
fevers
The seasonal incidence, as shown by the notifications (uncorrected for errors of diagnosis) received in successive four-weekly periods during the year was as follows:—
Table 21
| 1- | 5- | 9- | 13- | 17- | 21- | 25- | 29- | 33- | 37- | 41- | 45- | 49-62 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 12 | 27 | 43 | 15 |
In addition, there were 2 deaths recorded by the Registrar-General of cases
belonging to London which had not been notified within the county. One of these
was an inmate of a mental institution.
The deaths from influenza during 1938 numbered 271, compared with 1,656
in 1937.
Influenza
The deaths in London from rheumatic fever in 1938 numbered 103, of which
44 were among children under 15 years of age. The corresponding figures in 1937
were 82 and 42, respectively.
Rheumatic
fever
There were 7,280 deaths from cancer in 1938, as against 7,320 in 1937. The
death-rate per thousand was 1.79. There was an increase of 12 in the deaths among
males and a decrease of 52 among females compared with the previous year.
Cancer
Tuberculosis
The deaths from pulmonary tuberculosis in London during 1938 numbered
2,590, giving a death-rate of .64 per thousand living, in both cases a new low record,
the corresponding figures for 1937 being 2,888 and .71 respectively, and 2,849 and
.69 for 1936. There were 347 deaths from other forms of tuberculosis in 1938 as
against 351 in 1937 and 363 in 1936, the death rates being .09 for each year. In
England and Wales as a whole the corresponding death-rates for pulmonary and
non-pulmonary tuberculosis, respectively, were .53 and .1 for 1938, and .58 and
.11 for both 1937 and 1936.