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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During the year 17 cases of puerperal pyrexia were notified. Of the 17 cases, 15 were removed to hospital. The final diagnosis in these cases was as follows:¯
| Urinary infections | 8 |
| Genital sepsis | 4 |
| Influenza | 1 |
| Mastitis | 1 |
| Erysipelas | 1 |
| Undefined | 2 |
OPHTHALMIA NEONATORUM
This disease, the duty of notifying which was, under the Public Health
(Ophthalmia Neonatorum) Regulations, 1926, placed solely upon the medical practitioner
in charge of the case, consists of a purulent discharge from the eye of an infant
occurring within 21 days of birth.
In about 70 per cent, of cases the infection is gonorrhceal in nature, and in these
cases it is usually due to infection from the generative tract during birth. The ideal
method of treatment involves 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 | |||
Of the five patients who were removed to hospital, 3 were treated at St.
Margaret's Hospital and 2 at St. Leonard's Hospital. Of the nine patients treated
at home seven attended other hospitals as out-patients and two were attended
by private medical practitioners. The case rate per 1,000 births was 11.85 as
compared with 8.97 for London as a whole.
24 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
Nine cases of this disease occurred in the Borough during the year. The patients
were males aged 4 months, 110/12, 1, 16, 17 and 45 years, and females aged 24, 39
and 40 years. These cases were evidently sporadic in nature. The diagnosis
was confirmed in all the cases, and two deaths of these patients (males 4 months
and 45 years) occurred during the year.