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 1939
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Marylebone, Metropolitan Borough]
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35
SECTION F.—PREVALENCE OF, AND CONTROL
OVER, INFECTIOUS AND OTHER DISEASES.
Under this section of the report the Minister of Health requires information
with regard to the prevalence of notifiable infectious diseases during the year.
Table 20 gives a list of diseases which were notifiable in St. Marylebone during
the year under review.
TABLE 20.
List of Notifiable Diseases.
| Smallpox | Acute Encephalitis Lethargica |
|---|---|
| Cholera | Polio-Encephalitis |
| Diphtheria | Ophthalmia Neonatorum |
| Membranous Croup | Tuberculosis |
| Erysipelas | Malaria* |
| Scarlatina or Scarlet Fever | Induced Malaria |
| Typhus Fever | Dysentery* |
| Typhoid Fever | Acute Primary Pneumonia |
| Paratyphoid Fever | Acute Influenzal Pneumonia |
| Enteric Fever | Plague |
| Relapsing Fever | Glanders |
| Continued Fever | Anthrax |
| Cerebro-Spinal Fever | Farcy |
| Puerperal Fever | Food Poisoning |
| Puerperal Pyrexia | Measles |
| Acute Poliomyelitis | Whooping Cough |
| *A Medical Practitioner is not required to notify cases of Malaria, or Dysentery, if the case has already, to his knowledge, been notified within the period of 6 months immediately preceding the date on which he first became aware of it. | |
Table 21 shows the number of cases of infectious disease notified during the oast six years:—
TABLE 21.
Infectious Disease Notifications.
| 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smallpox | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Diphtheria | 104 | 119 | 121 | 108 | 93 | 42 | |
| Erysipelas | 59 | 35 | 28 | 47 | 35 | 23 | |
| Scarlet Fever | 212 | 155 | 141 | 121 | 88 | 43 | |
| Enteric Fever | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 5 | |
| Paratyphoid Fever | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | — | |
| Continued Fever | — | — | — | — | — | - | |
| Puerperal Fever | 3 | 10 | 4 | 13 | 3 | 11 | |
| Puerperal Pyrexia | 18 | 36 | 28 | 34 | 18 | 12 | |
| Cerebro-spinal Meningitis | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | — | |
| Tuberculosis (Pulmonary) | 132 | 93 | 107 | 117 | 105 | 92 | |
| Tuberculosis (Non-Pulmonary) | 25 | 19 | 23 | 17 | 24 | 12 | |
| Acute Poliomyelitis | — | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | |
| Polio-Encephalitis | — | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | |
| Ophthalmia Neonatorum | 8 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 5 | |
| Encephalitis Lethargica | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Pneumonia | 70 | 33 | 66 | 61 | 24 | 20 | |
| Malaria | 1 | 1 | _ | 1 | 2 | - | |
| Dysentery | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 16 | 2 | |
| Measles | from 1st October, 1938. | — | — | — | — | 3 | 17 |
| Whooping Cough | — | — | — | — | 17 | 114 | |
| Totals | 639 | 525 | 538 | 649 | 451 | 399 | |
Table 22 shows, with regard to the infections, the total number of notifications
received, the age distribution, the number of cases notified from each of the four
registration districts, and the total deaths during 1939.