London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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West Ham 1934

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for West Ham]

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which was the largest amount given to one case; the average
amount was 108,000 units. The amount given to the laryngeal
cases averaged 24,000 units.
Fatal cases: All the fatal cases were children under 12 years;
4 died within a few hours of admission; 32 died at varying periods
during the first three weeks, and 4 died from paralysis in the
sixth and seventh weeks of illness. The average duration of
illness on admission was 3.6 days, and the average amount of
antitoxin they received was 111,000 units.
Typhoid Fever.
Of 7 cases which were admitted as typhoid fever, 2 proved to
be suffering from para-typhoid B. Both were adults who had a
moderately severe attack, but made a satisfactory recovery. The
other 5 cases were found to be suffering from the following complaints:—Enteritis
2, perinephric abscess 1, ulcerative colitis 1,
lobar pneumonia 1.
The case of ulcerative colitis proved fatal.
Measles.
During the year 77 cases were under treatment. Of these,
69 were discharged and 8 died; 6 cases had been admitted under
a diagnosis of scarlet fever, and 5 as laryngeal diphtheria. Among
the latter, 3 cases required tracheotomy; one of them was fatal;
21 cases were complicated by broncho-pneumonia, 7 had nasal and
4 had faucial diphtheria; 18 cases developed otorrhoea. With the
exception of 3 nurses who are included in the total cases, the
patients were all children whose ages varied from 6 months to 7
years, the majority being children under 3 years. Of the 8 fatal
cases, 6 were complicated by broncho-pneumonia, and 2 suffered
from diphtheria in addition to measles. The fatality rate was
10.38 per cent.
Whooping Cough.
Only 4 cases were admitted as whooping cough; one of these
proved fatal. The disease was present, however, as a complication
in 2 cases of scarlet fever, 4 cases of diphtheria, 2 cases of
measles and 1 case of chickenpox. It was a contributory cause of
death in one case of diphtheria and one case of measles.
Pneumonia.
The number under treatment was 20. Only 2 of these suffered
from lobar pneumonia. The others were all children suffering from
broncho pneumonia—10 of them had been admitted as laryngeal
diphtheria; 10 cases were discharged, 9 died and one remained in
residence at the end of the year. The fatal cases were all children
under 5 years of age.
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