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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Second period (1871.82); with voluntary notification and with hospitals :—
| Diseases. | 1871 | 1872 | 1873 | 1874 | 1875 | 1876 | 1877 | 1878 | 1879 | 1880 | 1881 | 1882 | Totals. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small Pox | 120 | 68 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 84 | 24 | 24 | 11 | 55 | 0 | 395 |
| Measles | 64 | 43 | 38 | 121 | 23 | 128 | 54 | 53 | 60 | 75 | 67 | 77 | 803 |
| Scarlet Fever | 95 | 29 | 10 | 32 | 83 | 59 | 31 | 77 | 51 | 105 | 36 | 62 | 670 |
| Diphtheria | 11 | 14 | 11 | 26 | 23 | 17 | 10 | 20 | 26 | 22 | 8 | 25 | 213 |
| Whooping Cough | 72 | 77 | 44 | 45 | 107 | 124 | 34 | 185 | 93 | 95 | 85 | 119 | 1080 |
| Fever | 48 | 42 | 41 | 52 | 29 | 36 | 27 | 33 | 23 | 33 | 31 | 32 | 427 |
| Diarrhœa | 129 | 110 | 145 | 112 | 107 | 126 | 99 | 181 | 71 | 128 | 101 | 61 | 1370 |
| Totals | 539 | 383 | 290 | 388 | 372 | 498 | 339 | 573 | 348 | 469 | 383 | 376 | 4958 |
| Yearly average 413 | |||||||||||||
Summary of preceding tables with corrections for increase of population:—
| Diseases. | Deaths in 1st period 1859.70. | Deaths in 2nd period 1871.82. | Estimated No. of Deaths in 2nd l period. 1871.82. corrected for increase in population. | Increase (corrected) in 2nd period, 1871.82. | Decrease (corrected) in 2nd period, 1871.82. | Nett decrea8o (corrected) representing estimated saving of lives in 2nd period, 1871.82. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small Pox | 160 | 395 | 261 | 134 | ... | ... | |
| Measles | 629 | 803 | 1029 | ... | 226 | ... | |
| Scarlet Fever & Diptheria | 1076 | 883 | 1761 | ... | 878 | ... | |
| Whooping Cough | 529 | 1080 | 865 | 115 | ... | ... | |
| “Fever" | 535 | 427 | 875 | ... | 443 | ... | |
| Diarrhœa | 983 | 1370 | 1608 | ... | 238 | ... | |
| 3912 | 4958 | 6399 | 249 | 1790 | 1441 | ||
| The average population iu the first period of twelve years (1859.70) was 90,000, and in the second period (1871.82) 147,300. | |||||||
It will be noticed that after making correction for increase of
population there was an increase in the number of deaths, in
the second period, in respect of two diseases, small.pox and
whooping cough. Of whooping cough I shall only say that it
is one of the diseases of which we rarely hear until it has
proved fatal and its occurrence is never notified. Small.pox, on
the other hand, is more frequently notified than any other disease,
and yet the deaths show an increase of 134. This disease,
however, was severely epidemic in four years out of the twelve,
whereas in the first period of twelve years only twice did the
annual number of deaths exceed twenty. Measles exhibits a