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 1888
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington]
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92
preceding years, and were equal to 50.6 per cent, on births
registered as illegitimate. Of these 101 children only 23 outlived
their first year, and 16 died in the second year of life.
The causes of death, as registered, were atrophy, debility,
inanition, 21; premature birth, 9; tubercular diseases, 15;
zymotic diseases, 16 (diarrhoea, 9; measles, 4; whooping-cough
2; and diphtheria, 1); syphilis, 3; lung diseases, 23; convulsions,
4; diseases of the digestive organs, 2; teething, 2; and
one each from brain disease, spasm of the glottis, kidney disease,
congenital malformation, privation, and wilful murder.
Illegitimate children are commonly brought up by hand, under
the charge of strangers. The evidence of improper feeding,
and of the lack of maternal care, is apparent enough in the above
list of fatal diseases.
Senile Mortality.— At sixty years of age, and upwards,
there were 84.2 deaths, against 736, 747, and 773 in the three preceding
years, or 29.8 per cent, on total deaths, the equivalent
percentage in London as a whole being 23.2.
The Death—Rate per 1,000 persons living, at different periods of life, was as follows:—
| 1888. | 1887. | 1886. | 1885. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under Five years of age | 56.4 | 60.0 | 55.0 | 58.4 |
| Five and under 15 | 4.4 | 3.4 | 3.2 | 2.9 |
| Fifteen „„ 25 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 2.8 |
| Twenty-five „ 35 | 5.2 | 4.4 | 5.5 | 5.4 |
| Thirty-five „ 45 | 8.7 | 10.0 | 9.5 | 9.7 |
| Forty-five „ 55 | 15.8 | 15.5 | 14.8 | 16.3 |
| Fifty-five „ 65 | 28.5 | 32.5 | 29.5 | 27.6 |
| Sixty-five „ 75 | 64.1 | 61.2 | 65.8 | 63.2 |
| Seventy-five „ 85 | 151.6 | 151.6 | 144.9 | 142.7 |
| Eighty-five and upwards | 300.0 | 367.8 | 338.0 | 340.3 |