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 1925
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Marylebone, Metropolitan Borough]
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46
Isolation of Cases.—As the following table shows, the number of cases
removed was as high as usual:—
Diphtheria 128 or 96.9 per cent. of the cases notified.
Erysipelas 15 „ 41.6 „ „
Scarlet Fever 162 „ 96.4 „ „
Enteric & Paratyphoid Fever 12 „ 70.5 „ ,, „
Puerperal Fever 5 „ 83.3 „ „ ,,
Tuberculosis 55 „ 20.1 „ „ „
Pneumonia 21 „ 30.4 ,, ,. „
Encephalitis Lethargica 2 „ 100.0 ,, „
The cost of carrying out the requirements of the Public Health (London) Act,
1891, and the various regulations with regard to notification was £48 4s., equal
to 9s. 1d. per 1,000 of the population.
The cost and rate per 1,000 for each of the past years since 1919 are shown in the following table :—
| Year | Amounts paid to Medical Practitioners | Cost per 1,000 of Population | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | d. | |
| 1919 | 98 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1920 | 88 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 17 | 3 |
| 1921 | 82 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 7 |
| 1922 | 89 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 16 | 11 |
| 1923 | 40 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 8 |
| 1924 | 49 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 5 |
| 1925 | 48 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
Discharge Notices.-—The number of certificates received from the Metropolitan
Asylums Board regarding the return of patients sent to hospital with infectious
diseases was 271 and referred to 326 cases. Visits were paid to these cases by
the District Inspectors, and advice given as to date of the return of children to
school and the advisability of obtaining treatment for and isolation of any suffering
from any sequel of a disease.
Diphtheria and Membranous Croup.
Diphtheria was rather more prevalent in 1925 than in 1924—132 cases, as
against 122 in the previous year. Of the cases 5 died, and the case mortality
rate was 3.7 per cent.
The number of cases per 1,000 of the population was 1.2.
Throughout the whole year nothing in the way of grouping of the cases suggested
that there was anything like an outbreak of the disease. The cases, indeed,
were more or less evenly distributed and only in a few instances was it possible to
determine accurately the source of infection. In 4 is proved to be in the home
of the patient, and in 5 cases was derived from a member of the family previously
infected. Two patients were believed to have obtained infection in school, and
in 17 cases in an institution.
The number of swabs from doubtful cases (contacts) submitted for bacteriological
examination was 1,041. A positive result was returned in 61 instances.
Of the registration districts, that contributing the largest number of cases,
naturally, since in respect of child population it is the largest, was Christ Church,
with 55. In All Souls the number was 32, in St. Mary, 23, and in St. John, 22.