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29
REPORT of the MEDICAL OFFICER of HEALTH.
TO THE VESTRY
of the
PARISH OF KENSINGTON.
Gentlemen,
I Beg to hand you my third annual Report of the mortality
which has taken place during the twelve months ending January 1st,
1859, with a summary of the notices served and nuisances abated up to
March 25th, 1859.
During the year 1858, the mortality was high throughout the metropolis
generally, and Kensington, as well as the principal towns in
England, did not prove an exception to the rule. The excess of mortality
was owing to diseases of a chronic character, to whooping cough,
and to the prevalence of scarlatina and a new disease termed "Diphtherite"
or "Diphtheria." This appears to be a disease hitherto almost
unknown in London, and the majority of the deaths registered in our
parish, I believe from inquiries I have made, have been due to scarlet
fever complicated with severe throat affections. In the other cases, the
disease appears to have been owing to the presence of noxious malaria,
which have surrounded the dwellings of both rich and poor—the principal
exhalations being from untrapped drains, or from the ventilating shafts
of the sewers.
The total number of deaths from all causes during the past year was
1,290. From this, however, we must subtract 78 deaths, which occurred
in the Consumption Hospital, who were non-parishioners availing them-