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
Bethnal Green 1860
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Bethnal Green, Parish of St. Matthew ]
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Their numerals in 1857-9 are expressed by 413, 461, and 350. How the quota of Epidemics, Consumption, and Diseases of the Respiratory Organs varied month by month last year I annex below:—
| Diseases. | January. | February. | March. | April. | May. | June. | July. | August. | September. | October. | November. | December. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small Pox | 7 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| Measles | 10 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 14 |
| Scarlatina | 6 | 8 | 23 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 8 |
| Whooping Cough | 4 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 10 |
| Diarrhœa | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | .. | 5 | 4 | 22 | 13 | 13 | 1 | 2 |
| Typhus | 4 | .. | 15 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Consumption | 26 | 26 | 30 | 21 | 27 | 26 | 18 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 28 | 23 |
| Organs of Respiration | 60 | 77 | 77 | 36 | 26 | 22 | 22 | 24 | 28 | 29 | 43 | 43 |
| Totals | 116 | 134 | 159 | 86 | 80 | 78 | 64 | 83 | 83 | 81 | 106 | 107 |
The fatality from Diseases of the Digestive Organs
amounted to 110. Among its sub-divisions Teething took
off 50, Liver and Stomach Affections 31, and Intestinal
Complaints 14.
By the several headings of Classes 8, 9, 10, and 11, the
numbers carried off were 40, namely:—by the Kidneys 13,
Childbirth 21, Joints 3, and Skin 3.
In Classes 12, 13, 14, and 15, the Deaths by Malformation
were 4, by Premature Birth and Debility 66, by Atrophy
20, and by Old Age, "the only disease natural to man,"
114.
Finally, Classes 16 and 17, which comprise chiefly the
Sudden and Violent Deaths, register our loss at 115.
121 Inquests were recorded in the year. The individuals
on whom the inquiries were held included 62 males, or 35
children and 27 adults; and 59 females, or 34 children and
25 adults. Of the verdicts, 1 was from "Effusion on the
Brain," 1 from "Exhaustion," 1 from "a Shock," 1 "through