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 1914
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Marylebone, Metropolitan Borough]
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In relation to educational work it may be noted that in 1914 the practice of
showing films dealing with matters of importance in connection with hygiene was
again, as in 1913, adopted. Owing to the kindness of a prominent member of the
Public Health Committee it was found possible to make arrangements with the
proprietors of the Eldorado Picture Theatre in Lisson Grove and during one week in
practically every month a health film found a place in the programme of pictures.
Many hundreds of tickets were distributed on each occasion and a corresponding
number of persons were thus enabled to see the film.
Large quantities of leaflets dealing with such subjects as Flies in Relation to
Disease, the Feeding and Care of Infants, and so on, were distributed, and in other
ways it was tried to make the attempt at education reach as far as possible.
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. | |
|---|---|---|
| I. Zymotic Diseases | 72 | 0*63 |
| 2. Phthisis and other Tuberculous Diseases | 183 | 1.61 |
| 3. Respiratory Diseases | 307 | 2.70 |
All the figures, it may be noted, are lower than those for 1913, the drop in the
case of the respiratory diseases from a total of 377 to 307 being most marked.
Zymotic (Communicable) 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 1912 the
deaths due to them numbered 99, in 1913 and 1914 respectively they have fallen to
86 and 72.
The death rate, which in 1912 was 0.90, in 1913 was 0.79, and in 1914 0.63.
The common experience with these diseases is that if watched over a number of
years they are found 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, with 203 deaths, 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.
In the report for 1913 it was suggested that possibly that year might represent
the end of the fall. Clearly, however, it has not, but the same prophecy that was