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11
Whooping Cough was the cause of 24 deaths, being a slight
decrease upon the previous year when 27 deaths were certified.
The deaths from this disease in London numbered 2,160, being
equal to a death-rate of 0.48 per 1,000 living. The mean rate for
the ten years 1888.97 having been 0.56 per 1,000.
Compared with surrounding districts, St. Luke occupies a
favourable position, our death-rate from Whooping Cough was
0.59; in Shoreditch, it was 0.81; Bethnal Green, 0.92; and in
Limehouse, 1.06 per 1,000 living.
This not being a notifiable disease, I am unable to state the
amount of sickness due to it during the year.
Measles.—For the same cause as that mentioned in respect
to the last disease, the degree of prevalence of Measles can
only be judged by the number of deaths ascribed to it, but it is
satisfactory to note that it is credited with having caused only
37 deaths.
The Registrar-General's Report shows that Measles was the
certified cause of 3,075 deaths in the Metropolis, against 1,929
for 1897, and 3,697 for 1896, when it was attended with more
fatal results than any previous year on record, with the exception
of 1864. The Metropolitan death-rate of Measles last year was
0.68 per 1,000 as compared with 0.62, the decennial average rate.
Influenza.—Ten deaths were ascribed to Influenza during the
year against nine for the preceding year. The number of deaths
in the Metropolis during 1898 numbered 1,283 against 679 for
the year 1897, and although nearly double, was below the average
for the preceding eight years.
Phthisis.—In my last Annual Report I referred to the unenviable
position occupied by St. Luke in the list of London
sanitary districts with respect to deaths from phthisis. It is
therefore gratifying to be able to say the returns for 1898 show a
considerable improvement in this particular. The number of
deaths which occurred in the Parish from the disease was 99; of
which 55 took place in the Royal Hospital for Diseases of the
Chest, and 52 being non-parishioners may be deducted. On the
other hand, 59 parishioners died from the malady in Institutions
outside the Parish, making a total of 106 deaths belonging to
St. Luke; equal to a death.rate of 2.56 per 1,000 living, and
bearing favourable comparison with the following districts:—
Hulborn, 3.17 ; St. George's, Southwark, 3.18; Strand, 3.32;