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Of 243 persons belonging to Shoreditch who died in public institutions beyond
the boundary of the Borough, 58 died in general hospitals, 33 in asylums, 29 in fever
hospitals, 40 in special hospitals, 80 in public assistance institutions and 3 in other
institutions. Elsewhere than in public institutions, 5 persons belonging to Shoreditch
died beyond the boundary of the Borough.
Altogether 713, or 77.92 per cent., of the people belonging to Shoreditch who
died during the year died in public institutions. The figures for the last ten years
are as shown in the following table :—

INFANTILE MORTALITY
The deaths of infants under one year numbered 75, of which 39 were males
and 36 females. These deaths amounted to 8.20 per cent. of the total net Shoreditch
deaths from all causes as compared with 6.43 per cent. in 1937.
The infantile mortality rate (death rate of infants under one year per 1,000
live births registered during the year) was 64. For male infants the rate was 64
and for females 63. The infant mortality rates in the different wards of the borough
are included in Table No. 15 on page 26. The number of deaths of illegitimate
infants was 3, which gives a death rate of 58 per 1,000 illegitimate births.
Table No. 19 on page 29 gives the comparative infant mortality rates for
Shoreditch, London and England and Wales respectively.
It will be noted that the infant mortality rate for 1938 shows an increase on
that for 1937 but is still well below the average for the last ten years. As pointed
out however in the last report there are many causes of deaths in infants which vary
greatly from time to time, and it must only be expected that fairly wide variations
will continue to occur. Last year the increase can be ascribed almost completely
to deaths from intestinal trouble—usually that syndrome known as gastro enteritis.
Gastro enteritis is a cause of death which is closely associated with poverty and
bad housing conditions ; and lack of extreme cleanliness in connection with infants'
food, clothing, etc., is a main causal factor. This gives considerable hope for the
future, as housing conditions are gradually improving, as also are education and
propaganda, both of which do a lot towards improving the general cleanliness of a
child's environment. Active steps in the campaign for the prevention of this
intestinal trouble are being taken by the department, and more especially by the