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
Enfield 1914
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Enfield]
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The following table gives the number of cases of each infectious disease notified during the past five years:—
| Disease. | 1910 | 1911 | 1912 | 1913 | 1914 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scarlet Fever | 156 | 111 | 98 | 158 | 221 |
| Diphtheria | 105 | 53 | 77 | 72 | 84 |
| Membranous Croup | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Enteric Fever | 4 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| Small Pox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Erysipelas | 32 | 49 | 40 | 32 | 39 |
| Continued Fever | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Puerperal Fever | 11 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 7 |
| Cerebro-Spinal Fever | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Poliomyelitis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 3 |
| Ophthalmia Neonatorum | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 298 | 223 | 226 | 279 | 370 |
SCARLET FEVER.
I congratulate myself that the number of Scarlet Fever cases
notified is not very considerably larger than 221.
During the year the wave of Scarlet Fever which had swept
over the country more particularly London and Suburbs during 1913,
had not abated, and I quite expected an epidemic of the disease
during the Autumn.
The type was very mild, many cases not being diagnosed until
the patient began to desquamate. In fact on more than one occasion
this was the first symptom that gave rise to suspicion that anything
had been the matter with the child.
The two-hundred and twenty-four notifications of Scarlet Fever
received referred to 221 cases, which occurred in 153 houses as
follows:—