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 1927
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch]
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7
Altogether 838 or 63.1 per cent, of the people belonging to Shoreditch who died
during the year died in public institutions. During recent years this percentage has
been as follows : 1920, 55 per cent.; 1921, 56.9 per cent. ; 1922, 60.2 per cent. ;
1923, 63.6 per cent. ; 1924, 63.5 per cent. ; 1925, 63.3 per cent. ; 1926, 63.7 per cent.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
The infectious diseases included under headings 1 to 35, inclusive, and 171 anc? 172 in Table V. (Appendix) were the cause of 243 deaths. Comparative figures regarding deaths from these diseases during recent years are contained in the following table:—
| Death rate from infectious diseases per 1,000 population. | Percentage of total deaths due to infectious diseases. | Percentage of deaths from infectious disease due to tuberculosis. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1918* | 9.1 | 37.7 | 32 1 |
| 1919 | 4.5 | 28.5 | 47.6 |
| 1920 | 3.9 | 25.0 | 41.8 |
| 1921 | 3.8 | 26.6 | 43.1 |
| 1922 | 4.2 | 25.7 | 41.2 |
| 1923 | 2.6 | 20.3 | 58.5 |
| 1924 | 3.0 | 22.3 | 46.1 |
| 1925 | 2.8 | 21.5 | 50.0 |
| 1926 | 2.5 | 20.4 | 57.0 |
| 1927 | 2.3 | 18.2 | 46.9 |
* Influenza was the cause of an exceptionally large number of deaths in 1918.
In the subjoined table the deaths from the infectious diseases during 1927 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 | 65-7575-85 | 85 and upwards. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of deaths | 35 | 35 | 17 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 21 | 19 | 43 | 21 | 10 | 2 | 1 |
Of the total mortality from all causes of children under five years, 27.1 per
cent resulted from these diseases. Of the deaths of infants under one year, 14 were
due to whooping cough and 7 enteritis. Amongst children aged from one to five
years measles, diphtheria and tuberculosis were the chief causes of death. Most of
mortality from infectious diseases amongst persons aged from 15 years upwards
was the result of consumption, influenza and septic diseases.
The deaths from the principal zymotic diseases—smallpox, measles, scarlet fever,
diphtheria, whooping cough, enteric fever and diarrhoea (excluding enteritis) number