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
Kensington 1882
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington]
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18
in all England the deaths from these zymotic diseases were only
134 in each thousand deaths; and the rate was 2.6 per 1,000
persons living, in 1882, the decennial average being 3.2 per
1,000.
In the 27 large Towns grouped by the Registrar-General
with the Metropolis, the rate was 3.6 per 1,000, ranging from
1.6 in Halifax to 5.7 in Sunderland. The zymotic death rate
in the 50 large Towns coming next in order of importance, after
the 28, averaged 2.9 per 1,000; the highest rate (7.30 per
1,000) being recorded at St. Helens.
The following table shows the distribution of deaths from zymotic diseases registered in Kensington in 13 periods of four weeks, corresponding to my monthly reports:—
| PERIOD. | DISEASES. | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four weeks ended | Small Pox. | Measles. | Scarlet Fever. | Diphtheria. | Whooping Cough. | Typhus Fever. | Enteric Fever. | Simple Continued Fever. | Diarrhoea. | Total. |
| Jan. 28, 1882 | ... | 1 | 5 | 2 | 31 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 46 |
| Feb. 25 „ | ... | 3 | 3 | 2 | 16 | ... | 1 | ... | ... | 25 |
| Mar. 25 „ | ... | 6 | 8 | 1 | 21 | ... | 1 | ... | ... | 36 |
| April 22 „ | ... | 5 | ... | 1 | 14 | ... | ... | ... | 3 | 23 |
| May 20 „ | ... | 6 | 3 | 1 | 10 | ... | 2 | 1 | 2 | 25 |
| June 17 „ | ... | 13 | 3 | 4 | 8 | ... | 1 | 1 | 3 | 33 |
| July 15 „ | ... | 16 | 3 | 1 | 3 | ... | 1 | ... | 2 | 26 |
| Aug. 12 „ | ... | 8 | 1 | 5 | 4 | ... | 2 | 1 | 12 | 33 |
| Sept. 9 „ | ... | 8 | 6 | ... | 2 | ... | ... | 1 | 12 | 29 |
| Oct. 7 „ | ... | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | ... | ... | ... | 12 | 23 |
| Nov. 4 „ | ... | 1 | 16 | 2 | 2 | ... | 5 | 1 | 4 | 81 |
| Dec. 2 „ | ... | 2 | 4 | 2 | ... | ... | 5 | ... | 6 | 19 |
| Dec. 30 „ | ... | 5 | 7 | 3 | 5 | ... | 3 | ... | 4 | 27 |
| 77 | 62 | 25 | 119 | 1 | 25 | 6 | 61 | 376 | ||
I now proceed to make a few observations on each of the
diseases, and first with respect to
Measles, which, as already mentioned, was prevalent, especially
in the second and third quarters. The deaths 77 (70 in the
Town sub-district and 7 in Brompton) were 3 above the decennial
average, corrected for increase of population. In the majority