London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Shoreditch 1937

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch]

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51
In three instances in which the primary cause was notified as dysentery and the
organism was isolated from the stools, examination of the house contacts revealed
the fact that at least one of the contacts in each household was carrying the organism.
Whenever possible, examination of the stools of all or the majority of the contacts
was carried out and investigation was extended to any persons who had been closely
in contact with the patients.
From the clinical notes which are available in respect of certain patients, it would
seem that in the majority of cases the attack was mild. A proportion of the patients
showed blood in the stools during the early phase of the illness and diarrhoea and
vomiting were common features.
In every case enquiries were made regarding the diet of the patients, and in
certain instances bacteriological examinations were carried out. These investigations
elicited nothing of value.
From published statistics it appears evident that there has been for the past few
years a gradual increase in the number of cases of dysentery in England and Wales.
Dysentery used to be regarded as an institutional or an asylum disease but it is now
spreading over the population generally. Two or three large outbreaks were reported
in provincial towns during the late summer and autumn of 1937 and the number of
cases both in Shoreditch and the rest of London rapidly increased during the last few
weeks of 1937 and the first few weeks of 1938. The figures of the last quarter of 1937
for Shoreditch, London and England and Wales are shown in the following table.
It must be noted that these figures probably only account for a proportion of the total
cases actually occurring.

Table No. 35

1937. Week endingShoreditchLondonEngland and Wales
October 9th22240
” 16th31737
” 23rd3069
” 30th22159
November 6th28284
” 13th227109
” 20th569228
” 27th591351
December 4th1124454
” 11th3109441
” 18th5127411
” 25th272270
January 1st477247