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
Woolwich 1898
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Woolwich]
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4
The deaths registered during the past seven years as arising from
Tubercular causes were as follows :—
1892 112
1893 121
1894 126
1895 119
1896 124
1897 100
1898 118
By far the greater number of Deaths from Tubercular disease are due to Phthisis, as is shown by the following table:—
| Deaths from Phthisis. | Deaths from other Tubercular Diseases. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1896. | 1897. | 1898. | 1896. | 1897. | 1898. | |
| Dockyard | 37 | 32 | 45 | 16 | 5 | 16 |
| Arsenal | 50 | 49 | 39 | 21 | 14 | 18 |
| Total | 87 | 81 | 84 | 37 | 19 | 34 |
Of the total Deaths from tubercular diseases during 1898, 23 were
of children under 5 years of age, and 95 of persons at ages of 5 and
upwards.
The importance of Phthisis as a cause of death is evident on a consideration of the death-rate arising from it, while the percentage of total deaths that are attributed to Phthisis is even more striking, for, roughly speaking, Phthisis alone causes one death for every nine that result from all other diseases together.
| Phthisi Death-Rate per 1,000 living. | Percentage of Total Deaths | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attributed to Phthisis. | ||||||
| 1896. | 1897. | 1898. | 1896. | 1897. | 1898. | |
| Dockyard | 1.91 | 1.65 | 2.33 | 9.44 | l0.09 | 11.78 |
| Arsenal | 2.27 | 2.21 | 1.76 | 10.26 | 11.36 | 7.99 |
| Total | 2.10 | 1.95 | 2.02 | 9.90 | I0'82 | 9.65 |
The heavy incidence of Tubercular disease on the Woolwich district,
as compared, not only with England and Wales, but also with London
as a whole, is graphically shown in Chart VI.