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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5
During the period to which the figures in the first five lines of this table relate,
the deaths among infants under one year of age are shown to have fallen by more
than 57 per cent., the chief factor in this decline being the decrease in the birth-rate.
Over the same period the number of live births declined by 44 per cent. At the
other extreme of life it will be seen that the deaths have increased by about 26 per
cent. after 65 years of age. Here the increase is due not to increased death-rate
but to the increase in population at these ages.
There was a substantial decrease in the number of fatal street accidents—from 520 in 1937 to 363 in 1938. A comparison of the age distribution for the two years is given in the following table:—
Table 4—County of London—Deaths from street accidents
| Year | Age group | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0-6 | 5-15 | 15-25 | 25-45 | 45-65 | 65+ | All ages | |
| 1937 | 12 | 71 | 93 | 78 | 125 | 141 | 520 |
| 1938 | 12 | 40 | 57 | 49 | 90 | 115 | 363 |
| Decrease per cent. | — | 43.7 | 38.7 | 37.2 | 28.0 | 18.4 | 30.2 |
Street
accidents
The death-rates from all causes and from certain specified causes in each metropolitan
borough in 1938 and in London as a whole in 1938 and earlier years will be
found in tables 27 and 29.
The deaths from the principal causes by age and sex during 1938 in London
are shown in table 28.
The deaths under one year of age per thousand live-births were 57, compared
with 60 in the preceding year. This constitutes a new low record, being below the
record low rate of 1935. The general improvement in infant mortality would have
been more strikingly reflected in this rate had it not been for the effect of the
epidemic of measles during the year.
Infant
mortality
The movement of the death-rates from the principal diseases at ages below one year since 1910 are shown in the following table :—
Table 5
| Cause of death | 1911 to 1914 | 1915 to 1918 | 1919 to 1922 | 1923 to 1926 | 1927 to 1930 | 1931 to 1934 | 1935 to 1938 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measles | 3.40 | 3.84 | 1.64 | 2.02 | 2.07 | 1.44 | 0.95 | 0.07 | 2.35 | 0.05 | 1.32 |
| Whoopi ng.cough | 3.63 | 4.45 | 2.50 | 2.60 | 3.14 | 2.27 | 2.01 | 1.77 | 2.51 | 2.73 | 1.03 |
| Influenza | 0.27 | 1.10 | 0.81 | 0.38 | 0.48 | 0.40 | 0.24 | 0.18 | 0.27 | 0.40 | 011 |
| Tuberculosis | 3.40 | 3.20 | 1.52 | 1.26 | 0.89 | 0.77 | 0.56 | 0.56 | 0.71 | 0.44 | 0.55 |
| Bronchitis | 6.41 | 6.72 | 4.42 | 2.91 | 2.30 | 2.16 | 1.97 | 1.90 | 2.26 | 1 .95 | 1.76 |
| Pneumonia | 12.28 | 14.96 | 12.60 | 11.51 | 12.10 | 11.45 | 10.39 | 9.79 | 11.42 | 10 83 | 9.80 |
| Diarrhœa | 24.28 | 16.10 | 12.16 | 9.36 | 8.87 | 10.86 | 12.10 | 10.61 | 13.79 | 11 62 | 12.37 |
| Premature birth | 18.16 | 17.42 | 17.00 | 14.74 | 14.17 | 14.91 | 13.41 | 14.11 | 13.13 | 13.60 | 12.77 |
| Congenital defects | 14.69 | 14.66 | 11.26 | 8.39 | 7.38 | 7.22 | 6.35 | 6.88 | 6.97 | 6.14 | 5.91 |
| Other causes | 21.48 | 20.55 | 15.09 | 11.83 | 12.60 | 13.52 | 12.30 | 12.01 | 12.47 | 12.40 | 11.82 |
| All causes | 108 | 103 | 79 | 65 | 64 | 65 | 60 | 58 | 66 | 60 | 57 |