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 1938
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Woolwich]
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76
The less common infectious diseases are admitted to any of the London County
Council's infectious disease hospitals, but it is the practice of the County Council
to select certain of their hospitals for the treatment of such diseases as puerperal
fever, or anterior poliomyelitis, so that special facilities and experience may be
available for these cases.
The total number of notifications, excluding cases of tuberculosis, which are
dealt with later in this Section, was 1,324, compared with 1,318 in 1937.
In tabular form are shown in the next five Tables statistics relating to the
incidence of infectious disease in the Borough in 1938 and previous years. The
incidence of measles and whooping cough was higher than this table indicates
because they were only notifiable during the last quarter of the year.
TABLE No. 35.
Notifications of Infectious Disease (excluding Tuberculosis), 1938.
| Diseases. | Total Cases Notified. | Admissions to Hospital. | Total Deaths. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diphtheria | 264 | 264 | 8 |
| Scarlet Fever | 507 | 473 | 4 |
| Enteric Fever (including Para-Typhoid Fever) | 6 | 6 | 1 |
| Puerperal Fever | 8 | 8 | — |
| Puerperal Pyrexia | 37 | 31 | — |
| Erysipelas | 94 | 55 | 1 |
| Smallpox | — | — | |
| Pneumonia | 207 | 150 | 96 |
| Malaria | 4 | 4 | — |
| Ophthalmia Neonatorum | 32 | 6 | — |
| Encephalitis Lethargica | — | — | 3 |
| Dysentery | 50 | 20 | — |
| Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis | 6 | 6 | 3 |
| Poliomyelitis | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| Polio-encephalitis | — | — | — |
| Zymotic Enteritis | 61 | 56 | 19 |
| *Measles | 8 | †235 | †4 |
| *Whooping Cough | 35 | †14 | 1 |
| 1,324 | 1,319 | 140 |
*These diseases became notifiable on 1st October, 1938.
†Includes non-notified cases.