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
Brentford and Chiswick 1945
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Brentford and Chiswick]
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TABLE OF CERTAIN DISEASES THAT MIGHT BE
INFLUENCED BY WAR CONDITIONS
The free numbers indicate those notified to this Department and those in brackets the deaths from the disease as returned by the Registrar General.
| Disease | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scarlet Fever | 81 | 123 | 77 | 55 | 53 | 59 (1) | 44 | 37 |
| Diphtheria | 85 | 30 | 17 | 26 | 35 | 11 | 4 | 8 |
| (3) | (1) | (1) | ||||||
| *Measles | — | 2 | 67 | 254 | 313 | 217 | 356 | 525 |
| (1) | (1) | |||||||
| *Whooping Cough | — | 2 | 2 | 92 | 44 | 108 | 55 | 21 |
| (3) | (1) | (3) | ||||||
| Pneumonia | 24 | 32 | 24 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 6 | 15 |
| (28) | (30) | (56) | (35) | (38) | (47) | (50) | (27) | |
| †Influenza | (4) | (7) | (20) | (6) | (1) | (10) | (6) | (1) |
| †Diarrhœa (under 2 yrs.) | (6) | (3) | (2) | (17) | (3) | (4) | (6) | |
| Puerperal Fever | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | — | 1 |
| (3) | ||||||||
| Puerperal Pyrexia | 3 | 4 | 4 | — | — | 6 | 10 | 17 |
| (1) | ||||||||
| Enteric Fever | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | — |
| Cerebro-Spinal Fever (a much-dreaded disease during the last war) . | 2 | - | - | 5 | 3 | - | 1 | |
| (2) | (1) | (1) |
*Notifiable from October, 1939.
†Not notifiable.
The fact that there occurred no serious epidemics of Scarlet
Fever, Diphtheria, Influenza and Cerebro-Spinal Fever, was one
which caused considerable surprise. This was especially so in the
atter months of 1940, when people were badly overcrowded in
shelters all night and every night, under conditions which seemed
to violate all the fundamental rules of hygiene. These shelters
were designed for protection during short periods of raiding only
and not at all for dormitories. All these insanitary conditions
were altered as soon as the raiding died down and were put into
a highly satisfactory condition.
The only serious trouble we had was during the "V. 1"
attack in 1944, when an outbreak of Measles caused us considerable
worry.
Shelter life and conditions seemed to be most favourable for
the spread of Tuberculosis. The figures for 1944 and 1945 show
a marked increase in the incidence of this disease, which may
bear this out, as cases frequently are not diagnosed until some
time after receiving infection.
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