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
Shoreditch 1922
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch]
This page requires JavaScript
7
Altogether 1,032 or 60.2 per cent. of the deaths of persons belonging to Shoreditch
occurred in public institutions.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
The infectious diseases included under the headings 1 to 35 and 171 in Table V
(Appendix) resulted in 441 deaths, a number again markedly below the average for
previous years. This is mainly attributable to the comparatively low mortality
from whooping cough, diarrhoea and tuberculosis. The deaths from the diseases
under the headings specified amounted to 25.7 per cent. of the total number
from all causes as compared with 26.6 in 1921, 25.0 in 1920, 28.5 in 1919, 37.7 in
1918 and 30.2 in 1917. Tuberculosis accounted for 41.2 per cent. of these deaths,
and most of the remainder were attributable to measles and influenza. The death
rate due to these diseases was 4.2 per 1,000 population, as compared with 3.8 in
1921, 3.9 in 1920, 4.5 in 1919, 9.1 in 1918, 6.8 in 1917 and 5.6 in 1916.
In the subjoined table the deaths from the infectious diseases referred to above have been grouped according to age :—
| Age period. | Under 1 | 1-5 | 5-10 | 10-15 | 15-20 | 20-25 | 25-35 | 35-45 45-55 | 55-65 | 65-75 | 75-85 | 85 and upwards. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of deaths | 60 | 130 | 16 | 9 | 22 | 17 | 38 | 42 | 44 | 37 | 15 | 8 | 3 |
Of the total number of deaths from all causes of children under the age of five
years, 334 per cent. resulted from these diseases. In infants under one year, measles,
diarrhoea, tuberculosis and influenza accounted for most of the deaths. Amongst
children aged from one to five years, measles, diphtheria, and whooping cough were
the chief causes of death. The deaths of 18 children under the age of five years were
attributed to influenza. The chief causes of the mortality from infectious diseases
amongst persons aged 15 years and upwards were consumption and influenza.
The deaths from the principal zymotic diseases, viz., smallpox, measles, scarlet
fever, diphtheria, whooping cough, enteric fever and diarrhoea, not including enteritis
under two years, numbered 159, the death rate being 1.5 per 1,000 population. A
comparison of the zymotic death rates of London and Shoreditch and the eight wards
of the Borough is given in Table VI (Appendix). The rate was highest in
Church and lowest in Acton and Moorfields Wards.
The cases of smallpox, scarlet fever, erysipelas, enteric fever and puerperal
fever notified numbered 854; for the whole of London the number was 35,186,
the attack rates being 8.0 and 7.7 per 1,000 population respectively.
Subjoined is a list of the infectious diseases which were notifiable during the
year, excluding pulmonary tuberculosis, showing the numbers of cases certified in