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
Marylebone 1913
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Marylebone, Metropolitan Borough]
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Copies of the leaflet in an enlarged form were posted in public conveniences and
elsewhere throughout the Borough. Thanks also to the Editors of the local
newspapers, the contents were reproduced in the press as well, and so given a very
wide publicity.
Zymotic Diseases, Phthisis, &c., and Respiratory Diseases.
The following table shows the number of deaths from each of these diseases, and the death rate per 1,000 of the estimated population from each:—
| Total deaths | Rate per 1,000 of the estimated population. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Zymotic Diseases | 86 | 0.79 |
| 2. Phthisis and other Tuberculous Diseases | 191 | 1.75 |
| 3. Respiratory Diseases | 377 | 3.46 |
As compared with 1912, the figures for zymotic diseases and respiratory diseases
are slightly lower, and that for phthisis slightly higher.
Zymotic Diseases.
There has been a very marked falling off in the number of deaths from these
diseases during the last three years. The diseases included in the group are: smallpox,
measles, scarlet fever, whooping cough, diphtheria and membranous croup, typhus,
enteric and continued fevers, diarrhoea and enteritis, and whereas in 1911 the deaths
due to them numbered 203, in 1912 and 1913 respectively they have fallen to 99
and 86.
The death rate, which in 1911 was 1.72, in 1912 was 0.90, and in 1913 0'79.
The common experience with these diseases is that if watched over a number of
years they are proved to show a more or less regular variation, rising steadily to a
maximum through a series of years, and falling as steadily throughout the succeeding
series to a minimum.
In 1911 apparently a maximum was reached, and apparently also 1912 was the
first of the series of years in which a fall was due to occur.
That 1913 may represent the end of the fall is just possible, but even if it does not,
that so high a figure as that attained in 1911—203—will ever again be reached seems
improbable.
Year by year so many improvements are taking place in connection with the
prevention of infectious diseases, that the chances of any one of them, with the
possible exception of small-pox, getting anything like a firm grip, are growing
gradually less.