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 1892
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington]
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Scarlet Fever in 1892*
| Date of Report for four weeks ended | No. of Notifications Kensington London. | No. of cases admitted to hospitals Kensington London. | No of Deaths Censington London. | No. of cases in Hospital at the end of 1, the period: | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 30 | 28 | 863 | 22 | 412 | 4 | 48 | 1329 |
| Feb. 27 | 23 | 776 | 14 | 386 | 2 | 55 | 1198 |
| March 26 | 19 | 895 | 12 | 485 | - | 39 | 1226 |
| April 23 | 41 | 1491 | 20 | 670 | 2 | 67 | 1400 |
| May 21 | 51 | 1761 | 24 | 835 | 4 | 77 | 1677 |
| June 18 | 39 | 1788 | 22 | 837 | 2 | 85 | 1945 |
| July 16 | 70 | 2404 | 44 | 1239 | 3 | 93 | 2488 |
| August 13 | 74 | 2690 | 53 | 1486 | 2 | 98 | 3088 |
| Sept. 10 | 59 | 2773 | 5° | 1609 | 4 | 133 | 3339 |
| Oct. 8 | 98 | 3959 | 63 | 1500 | 2 | 123 | 3628 |
| Nov. 5 | 85 | 3755 | 59 | 1859 | 4 | 127 | 4067 |
| Dec. 3 | 82 | 2789 | 43 | 1412 | 4 | 124 | 3882 |
| Dec. 31 | 49 | I968 | 3° | 1051 | 3 | 105 | 3254 |
| 718 | 27912 | 456 | i378i | 36 | 1174 | ||
It may be mentioned, by way of parenthesis, that at the
close of the official year 1892-3, there were 1971 scarlet fever
cases in the hospitals, 803 patients having been admitted
in the four weeks ended March 25th: the deaths in the same
period were 83, and the notifications 1428. The epidemic,
therefore, had by no means come to an end.
A notable feature of the epidemic was the smallness of
the case-mortality, which, moreover, in the hospitals at any
rate, had been declining for some years previously. In the
twenty years the hospitals have been open, the average
mortality, per-cent. of the patients treated, was 9.78. Down
to 1884, the mortality was practically never below 10 per
cent. Since 1884 it has not reached 10 per cent. in any
year, the average rate in the last seven years having been
8.76. In 1890 the rate was 7.86 only; it further fell to 6.67
in 1891,and to 6.65 in 1892, "the lowest on record." I think,
*The figures in this Table are uncorrected for duplicate notifications and errors
in diagnosis. The notifications are taken from the weekly returns of the Asylums
Board; the admissions to, and the numbers in, the Hospitals, and the deaths in
London, from the weekly returns of the Registrar-General.