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 1932
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch]
This page requires JavaScript
38
Administrative measures have for their object the securing of adequate
treatment, the discovery of the source and the prevention of the spread of
infection. A case of erysipelas in the house is a source of danger during a
confinement or the puerperium, and enquiries are accordingly made and
steps taken to safeguard against this danger.
Puerperal Fever.
Three cases were notified during the year. There was one death, the
certificate being in the following terms:—
Septicemia, abortion, natural causes. Inquest.
Of the twenty-nine cases of Puerperal Pyrexia notified, four were finally
diagnosed as suffering from Puerperal Fever. The total number of cases of
which information has been received during the year is accordingly seven.
In the following table the number of notified cases of and deaths from Puerperal Fever in London and Shoreditch during recent years are compared. It should be explained that the Shoreditch figures include only cases actually notified as Puerperal Fever. Cases primarily notified as Puerperal Pyrexia and afterwards stated to be suffering from Puerperal Fever are not included.
| London. | Shoreditch. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year. | Cases. | Cases per 1,000 births. | Deaths. | Deaths per 1,000 births. | Cases. | Cases per 1,000 births. | Deaths. | Deaths per 1,000 births. |
| 1923 | 352 | 3.9 | 126 | 1.3 | 7 | 2.5 | ... | ... |
| 1924 | 298 | 3.5 | 106 | 1.2 | 10 | 3.9 | 1 | 0.4 |
| 1925 | 324 | 3.9 | 117 | 1.4 | 13 | 4.9 | 2 | 0.8 |
| 1926 | 341 | 4.3 | 127 | 1.6 | 10 | 3.9 | 3 | 1.2 |
| 1927 | 265 | 3.5 | 96 | 1.3 | 11 | 5.0 | 2 | 0.9 |
| 1928 | 295 | 3.5 | 115 | 1.5 | 7 | 3.4 | 3 | 1.4 |
| 1929 | 315 | 4.5 | 131 | 1.9 | 5 | 1.9 | 2 | 1.0 |
| 1930 | 296 | 4.2 | 119 | 1.7 | 6 | 30 | 4 | 2.0 |
| 1931 | 293 | 4.3 | 120 | 1.8 | 9 | 5.3 | ... | ... |
| 1932 | 220 | 3.3 | 79 | 1.2 | 3 | 1.78 | 1 | 0.59 |
Puerperal Fever is a disease associated with child-birth and caused by
infection from the generative tract.