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
West Ham 1937
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for West Ham]
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was responsible for more deaths than any other infection
except diphtheria.
As compared with the previous three years, there was an
increase in the number of patients who were treated for pneumonia,
and the fatality rate was high in 1937.
Erysipelas was not unusually prevalent and the majority
of the cases were of a mild type.
At the beginning of the year 183 patients were in residence
and 1,733 were admitted during the year, making a total of 1,916
cases under treatment. Of these, 1,659 were discharged, 48 died,
and 209 remained under treatment at the end of the year.
The chief causes of death during the year are briefly summarised
in Table I.
Table I.
Deaths in the hospital in 1937.
| Disease. | Number of deaths. |
|---|---|
| Diphtheria | 14 |
| Whooping cough | 13 |
| Pneumonia | 10 |
| Meningitis | 5 |
| Scarlet fever | 2 |
| Measles | 1 |
| Chicken-pox | 1 |
| Other diseases | 2 |
| Total deaths | 48 |
The fatality rate, calculated on all the cases admitted during
the year, was 2.77 per cent.
Table II. shows the admissions and deaths for each month
of the year, and in Table III. the annual admissions and deaths
from the principal infectious diseases since the hospital was opened
are set out.
Scarlet fever. The number of notified cases admitted
during the year was 839. Of these, the diagnosis was amended
after admission in 42 cases, or 5.0 per cent. of the admissions.
154