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30
Of 302 persons belonging to Shoreditch who died in public institutions beyond
the boundary of the Borough, 83 died in general hospitals, 40 in asylums, 55 in fever
hospitals, 54 in special hospitals, 68 in public assistance institutions and 2 in other
institutions. Elsewhere than in public institutions, 10 persons belonging to Shoreditch
died beyond the boundary of the Borough.

INFANTILE MORTALITY.
The deaths of infants under one year numbered 95, of which 55 were of males
and 40 of females. These deaths amounted to 8.68 per cent. of the total net
Shoreditch deaths from all causes as compared with 6.69 per cent. in 1935.
The infantile mortality rate (death rate of infants under one year) was 75 per
1,000 births registered during the year. For male infants the rate was 85 and for
females 64. The infant mortality rates in the different wards of the Borough are
included in the table on page 27. The number of deaths of illegitimate infants was
6, which gives a death rate of 139 per 1,000 illegitimate births.
The table on page 31 gives the comparative infant mortality rates for Shoreditch,
London and England and Wales respectively.
It will be noted that the infant mortality rate for 1936 showed a marked increase
on the rate for 1935, which was one of the lowest for any of the London Boroughs.
Of the 95 deaths, no fewer than 60 were due to three conditions. Pneumonia caused
22 deaths, diarrhoea and enteritis 25, and prematurity 13. In previous reports I
pointed out that a substantial reduction in the number of deaths from any one of these
three causes would cause a considerable reduction in the infantile mortality rate. The
figures for the present year demonstrate this—though unfortunately in a negative
manner. In 1935 these three conditions were responsible for the following deaths:
pneumonia, 14; diarrhoea and enteritis, 9; prematurity, 16. In 1936 there was
therefore a slight reduction in the number of deaths from prematurity, but the marked
increase in the infantile mortality rate was largely caused by a considerable increase
in the number of deaths due to pneumonia and to diarrhœal diseases respectively,
and to this rate the 7 deaths from measles (under 1 year) also contributed. Prematurity
and diarrhoeal diseases are discussed at greater length in later sections.
The causes of the deaths of infants under one year of age, together with age and
ward distributions, are given in the table facing page 31.