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
Willesden 1926
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Willesden]
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| 1 case miscarriage—piece of placenta retained—manually removed under anaesthetic. Specialist called in and diagnosed fibroid and tubo-ovarian abscess—operation performed and a mass of pelvic cellulitis found—did well for a few days and then had rigors—developed pneumonia and died. |
| 16 3 cases were treated in the Municipal Hospital and recovered. |
| 12 cases were treated in Park Royal Hospital, 9 recovered and 3 proved fatal. |
| 1 case was treated in a nursing home outside Willesden and proved fatal. |
| 16 Puerperal Fever Cases, 1926. Home Circumstances. |
Table No. 5.
| Number of Cases. | Number of Rooms. | Number of occupants, including new-born baby. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 years. | Over 10 years. | Total. | ||
| 1 | 1 | 1 (no baby, miscarriage) | 2 | 3 |
| 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 (4 children had been sent away to relatives). |
| 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | |
| 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | |
| 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| 1 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| 1 | 6 | 0 (no baby, miscarriage) | 4 | 4 |
3 Occurred in hospitals.
Puerperal Pyrexia.— Since 1st October, 1926, when this condition became compulsorily
notifiable under The Public Health (Notification of Puerperal Fever and Puerperal Pyrexia) Regulations,
1926, 24 cases have been notified to the end of the year. 2 of these 24 cases were subsequently
notified as Puerperal Fever, 1 proving fatal.
Ophthalmia Neonatorum.— The number of cases of this disease notified during the year
was 30, giving a case rate of 11.2 per 1,000 registered births. In 1 case no information was obtainable.
In the other 29 cases, a private doctor attended at the confinement in 20 cases, a midwife
in 4 cases, 1 case was attended by a private doctor in a nursing home, and the remaining 4 cases
were born in hospital. Treatment was obtained at a hospital in 5 cases, at a nursing home in 1 case,
at the Municipal Clinics in 8 cases, and by a private doctor at home in 15 cases. Complete recovery
with unimpaired vision occurred in 27 cases, in 1 case 1 eye was permanently injured, while 1 case
was still under treatment at the end of the year.
The following table gives particulars:-
Table No. 6.
| Cases. | Vision unimpaired. | Vision impaired. | Total Blindness. | Deaths. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notified. | Treated. | |||||
| At Home. | In Hospital. | |||||
| 4 | - | 4 | 3 | 1 | - | - |
| 1 | - | 1 | Still under treatment, progressing satisfactorily. | |||
| 1 | - | 1 Nursing Home | 1 | - | - | - |
| 8 | - | 8 Council's Clinics | 8 | - | - | - |
| 15 | 15 | 15 | ||||
| 1 | No information obtainable. | |||||