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2
Population
VITAL STATISTICS
The Registrar-General estimated the resident population of the county to be
4,062,800 at the middle of 1938. Exceptional movements of population have taken
place since the outbreak of war and rates quoted in this report are based on estimates
made by the Registrar-General of the average population amongst which the
notification of disease or deaths occurred. In the absence of information as to the
non-civilian population of the county it has been necessary to base the birth and
marriage rates upon estimates of the civil population only.
Marriages
The marriages registered in London during 1940 numbered approximately
53,200 or 34.5 persons married per thousand of the civil population.
Births
The live-births allocated to London during 1940 numbered 46,213. The livebirth
rate was 15.0 per thousand, the rate for 1939 being 13.0.
Deaths
The deaths in the total population of London during 1940 numbered 57,459.
Of the total deaths 27,944, or 48 .6 per cent., were among females.
Street
accidents
I here was an increase in the number of fatal street accidents—from 519 in
1939 to 543 in 1940.
Infant
mortality
The deaths under one year of age per thousand live-births were 48, compared
with 47 in the preceding year. The neo-natal death rate (ages 0-4 weeks) for 1940
was 22.5 per thousand live-births, the corresponding rate for 1939 being 22.4.
Infectious diseases
Particulars of infectious diseases during 1940 are set out below, corresponding
figures for 1939 being shown in brackets:—
Anthrax
Smallpox
Three (3) cases of anthrax were notified during the year.
No case of smallpox was notified in London during the year. London has now
been free from this disease since June, 1934.
Cerebrospinal
fever
During the year 839 (169) notifications of cerebro-spinal fever were received,
and 151 (34) deaths were registered.
Encephalitis
lethargica
Eight (11) notifications of encephalitis lethargica were received during the year,
the number of deaths being 48 (49).
Poliomyelitis
and polioencephalitis
Measles
During the year 20 (98) notifications of poliomyelitis or polioencephalitis were
received and there were 10 (16) deaths.
The notification of measles in the County of London came into force on
1st October, 1938, and during 1940 there were 5,447 (1,303) notifications. The
deaths numbered 29 (4) and the death-rate was .01 per thousand.
Whoopingcough
Whooping-cough also became a notifiable disease on 1st October, 1938, and
during 1940 there were 669 (10,537) notifications. There were 10 (134) deaths and
the death-rate was .003 per thousand.
Scarlet fever
There were 2,498 (5,677) notifications of scarlet lever in 1940. The attack-rate
was 0.8 per thousand, compared with 1.5 for 1939. The deaths numbered 5 (9),
giving a death-rate of .002 per thousand of the population at all ages and a casemortality
of .2 per cent. a similar rate to that for 1939.
Diphtheria
Notifications of diphtheria numbered 1,844 (3,671) m 1940. This gives an
attack-rate of 0.6 per thousand compared with 1.0 for the preceding year. There
were 67 (98) deaths, giving a death-rate of .02 per thousand living. The casemortality
was 3.6 per cent., the corresponding rate for 1939 being 2.7.
Diarrhoea
and enteritis
Diarrhœa and enteritis caused 263 (424) deaths among children under two years
of age, or 6.13 per thousand live-births. The corresponding rate in 1939 was 8.36.