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 1930
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Croydon]
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231
There were 3,069 more children excluded from school on
account of various illnesses than in 1929. The chief cause was
the infectious diseases, which accounted for 81.3 per cent. of the
total, as compared with 74.2 per cent. in 1929. Measles and
mumps were the chief individual causes, both being much more
prevalent than in 1929. Exclusions for verminous conditions
showed a decrease from 8.74 per cent. to 4.74 per cent. Impetigo
showed an increase in actual numbers, but remained about the
same in relation to total exclusions; Scarlet Fever and Diphtheria
also showed a slight increase, and Chicken Pox a rather greater
increase; Whooping Cough, on the contrary, declined considerably.
Apart from the marked exacerbations of Measles and
Mumps, both of which were not troublesome in 1929, the other
chief causes of exclusions remained much the same in numbers.
Table XVII.
CAUSES OF DEATH IN CHILDREN OF SCHOOL AGE.
| 1930. | 1929. | |
|---|---|---|
| Pneumonia | 3 | 3 |
| Measles | 8 | — |
| Respiratory Disease (not Pneumonia or Tuberculosis) | 2 | 1 |
| Infectious Disease (not Tubercular) | 11 | 14 |
| Tuberculosis (all forms) | 8 | 7 |
| Diseases of the Digestive System | 4 | 4 |
| *All other causes | 29 | 27 |
| 65 | 56 |
In the infectious diseases group Diphtheria 11, was the cause of death.
* Among other causes Violent Deaths (10), Organic Heart Disease (7), and
Meningitis, (3) were the most prominent.
Taking the school population as 25,235, the death-rate per
1,000 in school children was 2.6. Measles caused 8 deaths as
against none in 1928. Among the other causes of death it is
instructive and sad to see that violent deaths were doubled in
number.