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
Croydon 1914
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Croydon]
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29
DIPHTHERIA AND MEMBRANOUS CROUP.
The number of cases notified amounted to 226, as compared
with 451 in 1913, while 18 cases terminated fatally, as compared
with 16 in 1913. The case mortality was 8.0 per cent. It was a
routine practice to take throat or nose cultures from all contact
cases of school age or under. Also a number of adults attended
at the Town Hall to have cultures taken.
No specially localised outbreak of this disease occurred.
The quarterly incidence of cases and deaths for the ten years up to 1914 is shown in the following table:
| Diphtheria. | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notified Case— | ||||||||||
| 1905. | 1906. | 1907. | 1908. | 1909. | 1910. | 1911. | 1912. | 1913. | 1914. | |
| 1st quarter | 100 | do | 93* | 101 | 124 | 6l | 115 | 111 | 100 | 106 |
| 2nd „ | 42 | 42 | 49 | 89 | 75 | 57 | 105 | 190 | 81 | 44 |
| 3rd | 44 | 54 | 59 | 92 | 78 | 40 | 87 | 307 | 105 | 34 |
| 4th | 80 | 148 | 84 | 123 | 79 | 109 | 207 | 159 | 165 | 42 |
| Registered deaths:- | ||||||||||
| 1st quarter | 13 | 13 | 21* | 11 | 13 | 1 | 12 | 11 | 5 | 11 |
| 2nd „ | 3 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 3rd | 2 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 2 |
| 4th „ | 8 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
*Not including a fatal case admitted to General Hospital from Mitcham and thence
transferred to the Borough Hospital.
RELATION OF DIPHTHERIA TO DRAINAGE DEFECTS.
226 notified cases occurred in 200 houses. In 2 instances the
drains were not examined. The following is the result of the
examination of the drains of the remaining 198 houses:-
Number of houses where no defects were found:—152, or
76.7 per cent.
Number of houses where serious defects were found:—7,
or 3.5 per cent.
Number of houses where slight defects were found:—39,
or 19.7 per cent.
The proportion of houses infected with diphtheria that were
found to have serious defects in their drains was 3.5. This figure
strengthens the previously expressed view that drainage defects
are not an important factor in the causation of diphtheria. This,
infection is practically entirely a personal one.