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
Leyton 1936
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Leyton]
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74
The disease continued of the mild type to which we have
become accustomed during recent years.
Two deaths were certified as due to scarlet fever:—
| Male, 25 years. Valvular disease of heart. Scarlet fever. Male, 2 years. Septicemia. Scarlet fever. Treated in hospitals:— | |
| Leyton Isolation Hospital | 226 |
| Whipps Cross Hospital | 1 |
| Plaistow Fever Hospital | 9 |
| Walthamstow Isolation Hospital | 3 |
| London Fever Hospital | 7 |
| East Ham Hospital | 2 |
| L.C.C. Hospitals | 10 |
| 258 | |
| Treated at home | 109 |
| 367 | |
SOME ASPECTS OF SCARLET FEVER AND CURRENT
METHODS OF CONTROL.
In 1927 Sir Geo. Newman concluded his preface to a Special
Report on "Some Administrative Aspects of Scarlet Fever" with
these words :—
"A practice or tradition in regard to a particular disease
all too readily becomes established, fixed and static; yet in
view of their purpose and growth, scientific measures of
disease-prevention continually call for critical re-examination
as to their truth and necessity, and for vigilant reconsideration
from the point of view of the legitimacy and expediency of
the expenditure incurred."
A generation ago scarlet fever was considered to be a specific
infectious disease of fixed type, and the orthodox measures used
in its control were applied in a fixed manner. Since that time
there has taken place a profound change, not only in the prevalent
type of the disease, but also in our knowledge of its nature and
epidemiology; yet we continue to apply some routine methods of
control which were designed to deal with the much more serious