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
Coulsdon and Purley 1948
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Coulsdon]
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INFECTIOUS DISEASE.
The following table indicates the numbers of cases of infectious disease
notified during 1948, the number thought to have been treated in hospital
and the deaths which resulted.
Owing to the change in the method of admission to hospital after 5th July, 1948, and the impossibility of visiting all the cases of measles and whooping cough, the figures in the second column may not be quite accurate, but the proportion of missed cases is probably very small.
| Disease | Numbers Notified. | Treated in Hospital. | Total Deaths. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diphtheria | — | — | — |
| Paratyphoid fever | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Scarlet fever | 62 | 28 | — |
| Erysipelas | 8 | 1 | — |
| Puerperal pyrexia | 2 | 2 | — |
| Pneumonia | 13 | 4 | 24* |
| Dysentery | 71 | 70 | 1 |
| Cerebro-spinal fever | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Poliomyelitis | 2 | 1 | — |
| Measles | 567 | 6 | — |
| Whooping cough | 201 | 9 | |
| Totals | 929 | 124 | 28 |
| * Includes deaths from all forms of pneumonia. | |||
A full statement of the cases of Infectious Disease notified since 1918
is presented as Table III in the appendix. Excluding the cases of dysentery
occurring in the mental hospitals and the cases of measles and whooping
cough, which diseases were only notifiable during the two war periods
and since 1945, it is pleasing to note that the incidence of the remaining
acute infectious diseases among the general population is less than 1.5
cases per 1,000 population, which is one of the lowest, if not the lowest
rate yet recorded locally.
Diphtheria.
During the year five cases from this District were admitted to an
isolation hospital on suspicion that they were suffering from diphtheria,
but fortunately in not one of them was the tentative diagnosis confirmed.
The final diagnoses were whooping cough, chickenpox, quinsy, and
non-diphtheritic tonsilitis in two instances. All these patients recovered.
It is most satisfactory to contemplate the saving of life, ill health,
manpower and money which the absence of any confirmed case of diph
theria in the District for two successive years implies.
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