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
Walthamstow 1935
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Walthamstow]
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107
Of the 35 notifications (Puerperal Fever 4 and Puerperal
Pyrexia 31) received during 1935, 26 were from the MaternityHome.
The Resident Medical Officer, after careful analysis of the
temperature charts of these 26 patients, found that 10 of the
notifications would have been excluded had the temperatures been
taken twice daily instead of four-hourly. It can therefore be
claimed that even if the total notification rate is 4.05 per 1,000
total births in excess of the rate in the London Administrative
County area, the excess is probably due rather to more accurate
notification than to an increase in the incidence of puerperal
morbidity.
The notifications and rates for Walthamstow for the past five years have been as follows :—
Per 1,000 Total Births (Live and Still).
| Year. | Puerperal Fever. | Puerperal Pyrexia. | Total. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Rate. | No. | Rate. | No. | Rate. | |
| 1935 | 4 | 2.31 | 31 | 17.95 | 35 | 20.26 |
| 1934 | 13 | 7.31 | 28 | 15.78 | 41 | 23.09 |
| 1933 | 8 | 4.61 | 22 | 12.61 | 30 | 17.22 |
| 1932 | 6 | 3.39 | 20 | 11.29 | 26 | 14.68 |
| 1931 | 11 | 5.43 | 30 | 14.90 | 41 | 20.33 |