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
Dagenham 1929
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Dagenham]
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32
2. The age incidence of infection.
Scarlet Fever and Diphtheria mostly attack children round
five and under five, so that there 'would be fewer cases of infection
amongst persons who had been here over five years, not
becausc they had been here that length of time, but because
their age being further removed from five, they would be less
susceptible to infeclion.
If this were a point of importance one would expect to
see it reflected in the age distribution of disease incidence and
to show up regularly and consistently in succeeding years,"
Below is appended a table showing the age distribution of cases
of Scarlet Fever and Diphtheria occurring in the Estate hou..es
for the three years 1927-29 and in comparison the age distribution.
of cases admitted to the Eastern Hospital, taken from
the Medical Research Council, Special Report Series No. 137.
| DIPHTHERIA. | SCARLET FEVKR. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | Eastern Hospital | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | Extern Hospital | |
| Uuder 1 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 1.5 | — | — | 0 6 | |
| 1/2 | 3 8 | 5.6 | 1.8 | 6 5 | 5.5 | 3.0 | 2.3 | 3 2 |
| 2/3 | 5 7 | 10.3 | 5.3 | 10.3 | 6 2 | 7.2 | 4.0 | 7 2 |
| 3/4 | 10.8 | 10.8 | 7.1 | 12.9 | 8 2 | 10.2 | 7.8 | 98 |
| 4/5 | 8.9 | 13.1 | 10.2 | 13.6 | 10 3 | 8.0 | 8.9 | 11.4 |
| 5/6 | 7.0 | 11.7 | 12.5 | 11.9 | 13.7 | 17 4 | 17.6 | 11.5 |
| 6/7 | 10.2 | 10.3 | 18.7 | 17.7 | 13.3 | 10.7 | 10.0 | |
| 7/8 | 8.3. | 10.3 | 11.1 | 6.6 | 11 6 | 11.3 | 12.4 | 8.0 |
| 8/9 | 8.9 | 5.6 | 8.0 | 4.8 | 6.2 | 9.9 | 10.4 | 6.9 |
| 9/10 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 9.3 | 3.5 | 6.2 | 3.4 | 7.2 | 5.5 |
| 10/15 | 16.6 | 8.4 | 6.7 | 11.1 | 8.9 | 9.5 | 11.8 | 16.9 |
| Over 15 | 14 6 | 9.4 | 8.9 | 8 4 | 5.4 | 6.3 | 6.5 | 9.0 |
| Under 5 | 30 4 | 40.3 | 25.3 | 44.8 | 30.2 | 30.4 | 23 0 | 32.2 |
| 5/10 | 38.2 | 41.7 | 59.6 | 35.7 | 54.4 | 55.3 | 58.3 | 41.9 |
In the case of Diphtheria, if one assumed this greater incidence
within two years of residence were due to the fact that, during
this period, there were more children of susceptible ages,
one would expect to see a heavier incidence amongst children
under five than over five. Actually the Eastern Hospital figures
are 44.8 per cent, under five to 35.7 per cent, five to;ten,whereas
in none of the three years did the under fives show this excess.
on the other hand, if for any reason one particular year of ago
were especially markedly represented in the population, one
would cxpcct this age group to show a relative excess due to