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22
Whooping Cough.
The number of deaths from Whooping Cough was 68, or 29 more than in
the previous year.
22 belonged to the Limehouse District, or at the rate of .41 per 1,000 of
the population.
8 belonged to St. Geroge-in-the-East, or at the rate of .19 per 1,000 of
the population.
24 belonged to Mile End Old Town, or at the rate of .13 per 1,000 of the
population.
14 belonged to the Whitechapel District, or at the rate of .25 per 1,000 of
the population.
The death-rate for the whole Borough was .26 per 1,000, and that for the
whole of London was 19 per 1,000 of the population.
Whooping Cough occurs in epidemic form, but sporadic cases appear from
time to time. It is directly contagious from person to person, and dwellingrooms,
houses, schoolrooms, etc., may be infected by a sick child, but it is less
contagious in this way than other infectious diseases. It is most contagious
in the early period and girls are more subject to the disease than boys.
Children between one and six years of age are most liable to be attacked, but
sucklings are not altogether exempt. Adults and old people are sometimes
attacked. As a rule one attack protects and second attacks are very rare.
The complications of Whooping Cough, more especially Broncho-Pneumonia,
make Whooping Cough a very fatal affection, ranking among the first
of the acute affections as a cause of death in children under five years of age.
Children with the disease should not be sent to school or exposed in public
in any way, but unfortunately the latter is the most difficult thing to accomplish
in the poorer districts, such as ours. It is not sufficient to keep the
patient indoors and in a warm room during the early stages, but for six weeks
at least. The period after the severity of the attack has passed and convalescence
has begun is the time when the fatal Broncho-Pneumonias are apt
to develop. There is more neglect, superstition, and ignorance in connection
with Whooping Cough than with any other disease. We often see children
being exposed in cold weather in the vicinity of gas works, as well as being
frightened out of their lives by being held in open railway carriages while
passing through tunnels. The belief that inhaling the sulphur fumes and other
"stinks" is beneficial to the child suffering from Whooping Cough is very
difficult to eradicate.
The difficulty in isolating the children is appreciated from the fact that
among the deaths registered from Whooping Cough, one of the children lived