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 1949
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Leyton]
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Deaths of Leyton residents certified during the year numbered 1,232, giving a death rate of 11.54 per thousand of tho population.
| Year. | Deaths. | Death Rate. |
|---|---|---|
During 1949 the number of infant deaths under one year per thousand live births was 26.38; the corresponding figures being 29 for London, and 32 for England and Wales.
| Year. | Births. | Deaths under One Year of Age. | Infantile Mortality Rate. |
|---|---|---|---|
During the year under review no Leyton woman died from
diseases or accidents associated with pregnancy and childbirth.
The maternal mortality rate is therefore nil.
Additional vital statistical information is to be found in the
body of the Report (pages 8 to 18). On page 18 there is a table
showing annual comparative vital statistics in Leyton over a
period of fifty years.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
One of the most outstanding features of the year is that not
a single confirmed case of diphtheria was notified during the year.
This is the first time in the history of Leyton, at least since official
figures have been available, that the area has been quite free for
a whole year from a disease which in the past has been one of the
chief causes of death and lifelong disability. Of children attending
Leyton schools, some 76 per cent. have been immunised against
diphtheria.
Scarlet fever remains mild in type. Since 1941 only one
death in the Borough has been attributable to it.