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

Shoreditch 1901

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch]

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11
the Metropolis, so that by the end of the year there was not a single Borough in
Londo in which, more or less, cases of small-pox had not occurred. The Sanitary
districts which suffered most heavily were the Boroughs of St Pancras, Holborn,
Stepney and Bermondsey. Altogether during the year some 1,700 cases of small-pox
were certified in London, and some 229 persons died from it.
Prior to the present outbreak the last case of small-pox in Shoreditch was in
January, 1900. From that time until September 12th, 1901, the Borough was free
from the disease. The case which occurred on September 12th, was that of a girl
residing in Fanshaw Street. She was certifed and removed to hospital. As to how
she contracted the disease is unknown. She worked in Fleet Steet, and without
doubt was infected outside the Borough. All the necessary precautions were
taken for preventing the spread of infection. No further cases occurred in the house
and so far as could be traced no one else was infected by this patient. During
the rest of September, October, and November, isolated cases occurred. In two
instances the patients were men from Holborn. They contracted the disease in
Fulwood's Rents, Holborn, where there was a good deal of infection at the time,
and they came to the Holborn Workhouse in Shepherdess Walk with the eruption out
on them. They were at once removed to hospital, and the necessary precautions were
taken. So far as is known, no further cases occurred as the result of these two cases
in Shoreditch. During the month of December, cases of small-pox became more
numerous in the Borough, but no especial difficulty was experienced in dealing with
them.

Table: The distribution of the cases, and the deaths amongst males and females in the four Registration Sub-Districts of the Borough during 1901, is shown in the subjoined table:

The distribution of the cases, and the deaths amongst males and females in the four Registration Sub-Districts of the Borough during 1901, is shown in the subjoined table:

Sub-District.SMALL-POX.
Certificates.Fatal Cases.
Male.Female.Total.Male.Female.Total.
Shoreditch South..................
Hoxton New Town4...4.........
Hoxton Old Town7411213
Haggerston358112
Total for the whole Borough14923325

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Excluding two cases which were subsequently found not to be small-pox, and
the two cases from Fulwood's Bents, Holborn, the inhabitants of Shoreditch suffered
from small-pox at the rate of 0.16 per 1,000 inhabitants, the attack rate being 0.07 in
Hoxton New Town, 0.41 in Hoxton Old Town, and 0.11 in Haggerston. The deathrates
from small-pox were 0.04 for the whole Borough, 0.11 in Hoxton Old Town,
and 0.04 in Haggerston.