London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Woolwich 1913
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Woolwich]
This page requires JavaScript
44
48. 171 of the total cases notified were in Woolwich
parish, 98 in West Plumstead, 33 in East Plumstead, and
19 in Eltham.
The following table shows the case-rate, in each registration district (not corrected for mistaken diagnosis) in the past thirteen years, compared with London and the Borough:—
| 1901-05. | 1906-10. | 1911. | 1912. | 1913. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Borough | 1.71 | 2.20 | 1.68 | 3.09 | 1.91 |
| Woolwich Parish | 1.63 | 2.34 | 2.40 | 4.38 | 4.43 |
| Plumstead Parish | 1.87 | 2.40 | W. 1.19 | 3.79 | 2.32 |
| E. 2.33 | 2.81 | 1.02 | |||
| Eltham Parish | 1.62 | 2.22 | 2.30 | 1.71 | 1.29 |
| London | 1.90 | 1.63 | 1.64 | 1.57 | 1.70 |
The table shows that since 1910, diphtheria has prevailed
more in Woolwich parish than in the rest of the Borough,
and this was particularly so last year. Wood Street school,
the largest school in this parish, was again affected in a
special degree, so as to cause concern to several persons in
its vicinity. Such persons are inclined to suspect that some
special insanitary conditions must be present in the school
or in its vicinity to cause such prevalence of infectious
disease. It is quite a mistake to seek for such an explanation.
The true explanation is in the habits of the disease.
Diphtheria (like scarlet fever) is well known to haunt a
particular locality persistently for several years. As shown
in toy Annual Report for 1905, page 34, during the years
1901-5 Wood Street school had the lowest incidence of scarlet
fever, and 'the lowest incidence but one of diphtheria among
the provided schools in the Borough. Both these diseases
were then haunting the neighbourhood of Elizabeth Street
and Ancona Road schools, and leaving Wood Street school
alone. Now the condition is reversed.