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 1934
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch]
This page requires JavaScript
37
The infection is nearly always gonorrheal in nature and is usually due to infection
from the generative tract during birth. The ideal method of treatment is removal
of the child and the mother to hospital.
The following table gives particulars of the cases which occurred during the
year
| Cases. | Vision unimpaired. | Vision. Impaired. | Died. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notified. | Treated at home. | In hospital. | |||
| 18 | 11 | 7 | 18 | Nil reported. | Nil. |
The seven patients who were removed were treated at St. Margaret's Hospital.
Of the eleven patients treated at home five attended other hospitals as out-patients.
The case rate per thousand births was 12.4 as compared with 5.80 for London as a
whole.
In addition to these cases of ophthalmia neonatorum 29 cases of inflammation
of the eyes were reported by the Medical Officer of Health of the London County
Council. Of these five were subsequently notified as ophthalmia neonatorum and
are included in the above table.
Cerebro-spinal Fever.
Five cases of this disease occurred in the Borough during the year. Of these
three were notified, the other two being reported after the death of the patient.
The ages of the patients notified during life were 5 and 4 years and 3 months respectively
; all were females. These cases were evidently sporadic in nature.
The number of deaths from this disease in London and Shoreditch during recent years have been as follows:—
| 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shoreditch | 1 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 2 |
| London | 80 | 131 | 131 | 116 | 80 |
The fatal cases were aged 3 months and 2 years respectively, one being a
male and one a female.
Encephalitis Lethargica.
No new cases of this disease were notified during the year. It is well known
that the after effects of this disease present numerous administrative difficulties.
At the end of the year 27 patients who were suffering from post-encephalitic symptoms
were living in the Borough and one of these was removed to a special institution.
There was one death of a patient who was suffering from post-encephalitic symptoms.