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
Acton 1895
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Acton]
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The following table compares the death rate of children under one year per thousand registered births, and the birth rate for the last nine years.
| Birth Rate Per Thousand. | Deaths of Children under 1 year. Per Thousand Registered Births. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1887 | 28.7 | 147 |
| 1888 | 31.1 | 182 |
| 1889 | 34.1 | 175 |
| 1890 | 28.3 | 151 |
| 1891 | 30.8 | 146 |
| 1892 | 30.5 | 185 |
| 1893 | 31.9 | 192.5 |
| 1894 | 30.2 | 160.6 |
| 1895 | 31.6 | 168.1 |
Researches have shown conclusively that one of the chief
difficulties in the artificial feeding of infants, is in keeping the
milk of the cow, or other animal, free from the contagion of bacilli,
which are always floating in the atmosphere. Milk is found to be
an admirable medium for the cultivation of these microbes, and
the result of the infant imbibing these organisms is, that it is
seized with diarrhoea and vomiting, which, unchecked speedily
exhaust vitality and extinguish life.
The only way to combat this evil is by sterilizing the
milk, and if this were compulsory in our country as it is in
some parts of America, our high infant mortality would soon be
diminished.
ZYMOTIC DEATH RATE.
The total number of deaths registered for the principal
Zymotic diseases was 67, as compared with 63 in 1894; this
gives a Zymotic death rate of 2.4 per thousand.