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 1938
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch]
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| Area of Borough | 662 acres |
| Average height above sea-level | 60 feet |
| Population (Registrar-General's mid-year estimate) | 80,360 |
| Estimated number of houses (including separately-rated flats) | 14,097 |
| Number of families (1931 census) | 25,156 |
| Rateable value | £830,087 |
| Sum represented by a penny rate | £3,182 |
| Shoreditch | London | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average | Average | |||
| 1938 | 1928-1937 | 1938 | 1928-1937 | |
| Birth rate (rate per 1,000 living) | 14.70 | 17.24 | 13.4 | 14.33 |
| Still births (rate per 1,000 total births) | 30.38 | 25.71* | 34.2 | 26.39* |
| Death rate (deaths per 1,000 living) | 11.40 | 12.6 | 11.4 | 12.17 |
| Marriage rate (persons married per 1,000 living) | 20.74 | 19.56 | 21.9 | 19.45 |
| Infantile mortality rate— | ||||
| (Deaths under 1 year per 1,000 births) | 64 | 72 | 57 | 64 |
| Maternal mortality rate (deaths per 1,000 live births) | 2.54 | 2.41 | 1 .88 | 2.93 |
| Death rate from pneumonia and bronchitis | 1.16 | 1.76 | 1.14 | 1 .43 |
| „ cancer | 1.70 | 1.50 | 1.75 | 1 .64 |
| „ „ „ diarrhoea and enteritis (under 2 years) per 1,000 births | 21.17 | 14.24 | 13-1 | 11.60 |
| Cases | Caserate | Deaths | Deathrate | |
| Smallpox | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Scarlet fever | 186 | 2.31 | 1 | 0.01 |
| Diphtheria | 142 | 1.77 | 4 | 0.05 |
| Typhoid fever | 33 | 0.42 | 4 | 0.05 |
| Measles (all ages) | — | — | 6 | 0.07 |
| „ (notified cases) | 496‡ | — | — | |
| Puerperal fever | 2 | 0.02 | 1 | 0.01 |
| Pulmonary tuberculosis | 96 | 1.19 | 47 | 0.59 |
| Other forms of tuberculosis | 22 | 0.27 | 10 | 0.12 |
* Average rate for 1930-1937 ; Still births were not recorded before 1930.
‡ This figure, since 1st October, represents only the first cases in each household; previously
only the first cases in each household under 5 years were included.