View report page

INTRODUCTION
The home population of the County in the middle of 1954 was estimated by the
Registrar-General to be 3,322,000, a decrease of 21,000 as compared with the previous
year. The average age of the population was 37.4 years and 11.6 per cent. were 65 years
of age or over.
Vital
statistics
The live birth-rate (15.2 per thousand population) was slightly lower than in the
previous year and, whilst it was well in excess of the pre-war and early war years, it
now seems to have stabilised a little below the average over the last 21 years. Of the
total live births, 7.2 per cent. were illegitimate, a figure of the same order as those for
the past seven years. Since 1948 the still-birth rate has remained relatively stable and in
1954 there were 19.8 still-births per 1,000 total births, the legitimate and illegitimate
rates being 19.1 and 29.3 respectively.
Since 1951 there has been a steady decline in the death-rate to the lowest figure ever
recorded of 10.7 per 1,000 of the population in 1954. Heart disease was still the major
cause of death and accounted for nearly one-third of the mortality and, although the
death rate from cancer showed a slight decrease from 2.34 per 1,000 to 2.31 per 1,000
in 1954, it remained the second leading cause of death. A detailed analysis of the course
of lung cancer in London over the last 25 years is given in Appendix A on page 144.
The death rate for the bronchitis and pneumonia group fell sharply from 1.71 per 1,000
in 1953 to 1.14 per 1,000 in 1954. The degenerative diseases, namely, heart disease,
other circulatory diseases, cerebral vascular lesions, nephritis and bronchitis continue
to be responsible for over half the deaths. There was an increase in the number of
fatalities from violence which constituted the sixth leading cause of death. One out of
every 24 deaths occurring was attributable to this cause, i.e. accidents in the home and
on the road, industrial accidents, suicides, etc.
The deaths of children under one year continued to decline and reached the lowest
recorded figure of 20.7 per 1,000 live-births. Of these, 15.1 occurred in the first four
weeks of life, which was also the lowest figure ever recorded in London and compares
with 17.8 for England andWales. The infant mortality rate among illegitimate infants
was 30Per 1000 illegitimate births.
A new table has been introduced on page 227 giving details of temperatures, rainfall
and sunshine during 1954 and the differences from average.
Weather
The number of cases of diphtheria continues to decline and in 1954 there were only
four confirmed notifications of the disease and no deaths. There was a smaller number
of notifications of whooping cough (4,691) than for some years past and there were
only four deaths from this disease. The notifications of scarlet fever (2,444) was the
lowest figure recorded since 1941 and there were no deaths. The fatality rate for measles
has declined considerably in recent years and from the 7,445 cases notified only two
deaths resulted. Similar remarks apply to diarrhoea and enteritis in children under
two years of age and the 24 deaths registered during the year from this cause was the
lowest on record. Deaths attributable to influenza fell sharply from 514 in 1953 to 83
in 1954 which was the lowest figure since 1948. There was a comparatively low
incidence of poliomyelitis and of the 125 cases notified about one-third occurred in
each of the three age groups 0-4 years : 5-14 vears : and 15 vears and over.
Infectious
diseases
Notifications of dysentery (4,268) were the highest recorded, the heaviest incidence
being found once again among children of pre-school age. On page 18 reference is
made to the results of an investigation into the source and origin of 12 months' notifications
of Sonne dvsentery in London.
A detailed account and statistical data relating to recent trends in the mortality and
morbidity of tuberculosis in London are given on page 23. The routine vaccination
by B.C.G. of thirteen-year old school children found, after a tuberculin test, to be
susceptible to tuberculosis was inaugurated during the year. It is expected that about
36,000 children of this age will be offered this protection each year in the future.
Present experience has shown that in about twenty-five per cent, of cases, parental
Tuberculosis
3