London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Leyton 1933
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Leyton]
This page requires JavaScript
52
The table shows at a glance the total number and also the
percentage of secondary cases occurring in premises from which the
original cases had been removed previously. By way of explanation,
it should be pointed out that, in the final comparison, secondary
cases occurring within a week of the primary case have been excluded,
the reason being that such cases occurring within the
known incubation stage of the two diseases may have been infected
by the primary case before removal to hospital.
The following table gives these results in summary form for purposes of comparison.
| Period. | Steam Disinfection. | Disease. | Cases Notified. | Cases Removed. | Secondary Cases After 7th Day. | Percentage of Secondary Cases. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S.F. | 1,746 | 1,160 | 74 | 6.38 | ||
| 1926/7/8/9 | Practised. | Diph. | 1,247 | 1,026 | 50 | 4.87 |
| Total | 2,993 | 2,186 | 124 | 5.67 | ||
| S.F. | 1,861 | 1,272 | 61 | 4.79 | ||
| 1930/1/2/3 | Abandoned. | Diph. | 793 | 676 | 21 | 3.1 |
| Total | 2,654 | 1,948 | 82 | 4.20 |
It will be seen that, in the case of scarlet fever, the percentage
of secondary cases has dropped from 6.38 per cent, to 4.79 per cent,
whereas the relative figure for diphtheria has fallen from 4.87 per
cent, to 3.1 per cent, during the two periods under review. When
comparison is made between the total figures (including both
scarlet fever and diphtheria) it will be seen that the percentage of
secondary cases had diminished from 5.67 (with steam disinfection)
to 4.20 (without steam disinfection).