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
Ealing 1923
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Ealing]
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TABLE III.
Causes of Infant Deaths, 1917 to 1923.
| 1917 | 1918 | 1919 | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diarrhoeal Diseases | 10 | 14 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 2 |
| Premature Birth | 7 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 11 |
| Congenital Defects | 5 | – | 6 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
| and of Breast Milk (Starvation) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Atrophy, Debility,Marasmus | 6 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 9 |
| Tuberculous Disease | 2 | – | 3 | 3 | – | 2 | 1 |
| Syphilis | 1 | – | – | 3 | 2 | – | – |
| Rickets | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Meningitis (not Tuberculosis) | 1 | – | 2 | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| Convulsions | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Bronchitis | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| Pneumonia (all forms) | 17 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 10 |
| Gastritis | – | – | – | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Common Infectious Diseases | 2 | 7 | 1 | – | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| Other Causes | 7 | 13 | 17 | 7 | 9 | 15 | 10 |
| Totals | 75 | 70 | 67 | 64 | 72 | 57 | 62 |
Scarlet fever and diphtheria were not so prevalent as in the
previous two years, hence the death-rates for these diseases are
lower, being 0.01 for the former and 0.09 for the latter. These
rates compare well with those for England and Wales and for
London, which are respectively 0.03 and 0.02 for scarlet fever
and 0.07 and 0.13 for diphtheria.
The death-rates for measles and diarrhoea (see Table page 9)
are much lower than those for England and Wales and London,
while the rate for whooping cough is the same as that for
England and Wales and just a shade higher than that for London.
Table VIII. shows the complete list of the causes of death.
It is seen that tuberculosis accounts for nearly one-tenth of the
total deaths, cancer (malignant disease) for one-sixth, heart disease
for one-seventh, and pneumonia and bronchitis for one-seventh
of the deaths, or altogether for more than one-half of the total.
These figures indicate the diseases against which preventive
measures must be directed to lower the death-rate and increase
the mean age at death.