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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42
(A) Fever hospitals
Infectious diseases hospitals
Condensed statistics of the patients in the infectious hospitals from 1932 to 1938 are as follows:—
Table 50
| 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936§ | 1937 § | 1938§ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| On books on 1st January | 4,148 | 4,495 | 6,205 | 4,672 | 3,777 | 3,456 | 4,250 |
| Admitted during the year | 43,769 | 49,217 | 53,413 | 30,664 | 43,927 | 33,685 | 39,659 |
| Discharged during the year | 42,060 | 46,598 | 53,462 | 31,065 | 42,962 | 31,923 | 39,758 |
| Died during the year | 1,362 | 909 | 1,484 | 518 | 1,286 | 967 | 883 |
| Remaining on 31 st December | 4,495 | 6,205 | 4,672 | 3,753 | 3,456 | 4,250 | 3,268 |
| Lowest number under treatment at any time prior to the seasonal rise. | 3,195 (10th Sept.) | 3,928 (2nd Sept.) | 3,419 (1st Sept.) | 2,506 (31st Aug.) | 2,646 (12th Sept.) | 2,582 (21st Aug.) | 2,116 (1st Oct.) |
| Highest number under treatment at any time during the seasonal rise. | 4,745 (22nd Nov.) | 6,328* (4th Dec.) | 4,740 (16th Dec.) | 3,753† (31st Dec.) | 3,435 (30th Dec.) | 4,396† (29th Dec.) | 3,389 (13th Deo.) |
N.B.—Figures of admissions and discharges include transfers between infectious diseases hospitals.
* The number subsequently reached 7,621 on 4th April, 1934 (measles epidemic).
† The number subsequently reached 6,981 on 6th April, 1936 (measles epidemic).
‡ The number subsequently reached 5,848 on 29th March, 1938 (measles epidemic).
§ Numbers include sick classified as "patients."
Incidence of
infectious
disease
The year 1938 was one of comparatively low incidence of infectious diseases.
The number of patients, excluding those suffering from measles, treated at the
infectious diseases hospitals during the year was 26,809; the number of measles
cases treated was 9,292 (comparative figure for 1936: 12,788); the lowest number
of patients under treatment at any one time during the year was 2,116 on 1st
October, 1938. This was the lowest figure since September, 1918, and was the
result of the international situation in September, when all patients who could
safely be discharged were sent home. The highest number of patients under treatment
during the year was 5,848 on 29th March, i.e., at the peak of the measles
epidemic, when there were 2,375 cases of measles under treatment.
The number of patients suffering from scarlet fever treated throughout the
year was 6,848, and from diphtheria 6,194. The number of cases of whoopingcough
treated was low (1,949), but the number under treatment rose rapidly from
the end of September to December. On 1st October a partial notification of measles
and whooping-cough, to which reference is made on p. 43, was instituted throughout
the county, but it was not possible by the end of the year to determine its influence
upon the demand for hospital accommodation for patients suffering from those
diseases.
During the last two years a noteworthy increase has taken place in the number
of patients admitted suffering from enteritis, dysentery, puerperal fever and pyrexia,
cerebro-spinal fever, poliomyelitis, chickenpox, mumps and German measles. The statement below shows the rise in admissions of some of these diseases:—
| Cerebrospinal fever | Poliomyelitis | Puerperal fever and pyrexia | Enteritis | Dysentery | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | 94 | 64 | 301 | 1,398 | 502 |
| 1937 | 104 | 40 | 276 | 1,268 | 541 |
| 1936 | 52 | 8 | 181 | 701 | 171 |
| 1935 | 35 | 21 | 195 | 132 | 74 |
| 1934 | 55 | 22 | 200 | 3 | -* |
* Not available.
Similar figures for German measles, mumps, and chickenpox are not available,
but those diseases constitute, in the aggregate, by far the greater part of the following
figures, giving, for each of the last five years, the number of patients admitted with