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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Laryngeal diphtheria. Forty-one eases were admitted as
laryngeal diphtheria, but 18 of these proved to be wrongly diagnosed.
Of the 23 true cases, 8 required tracheotomy, and 2 of
these patients died. One of the fatal cases was complicated by
whooping cough and broncho-pneumonia, and the other had
broncho-pneumonia.
Fatal cases. The 12 deaths which occurred among the
faucial cases were of children whose ages varied from 9 months
to 15 years; the average age was 6 years. All of these proved
fatal within the first three weeks of the disease, and the average
duration of illness on admission was 3.5 days. The amount of
antitoxin administered to these patients averaged 130,000 units
per patient.
Further particulars of the patients who died from diphtheria
in the hospital during the year are given in Table X.
Table X.
Diphtheria. Particulars of fatal cases.
| Age. | Sex. | Date of admission. | Duration of illness on admission (days). | Amount of antitoxin given. (units). | Duration of illness at death. (days). |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 yrs. 9 mths. | F | 13.2.37 | 3 | 112.000 | 5 |
| 6 yrs. | F | 24.3.37 | 4 | 200,000 | 21 |
| 5 yrs. | M | 1.5.37 | 4 | 200,000 | 7 |
| 7 yrs. | F | 11 .5.37 | 3 | 240,000 | 14 |
| 15 yrs. 6 mths. | F | 29.5.37 | 5 | 100,000 | 6 |
| 10 yrs. | M | 22.5.37 | 3 | 100,000 | 16 |
| 7 yrs. | F | 11.6.37 | 3 | 200,000 | 8 |
| 3 yrs. 3 mths. | F | 16.6.37 | 2 | 132,000 | 3 |
| 2 yrs. 8 mths. | M | 23.6.37 | 3 | 220,000 | 6 |
| 6 yrs. | F | 19.7.37 | 4 | 120,000 | 4 |
| 5 yrs. | M | 4.10.37 | 3 | 200,000 | 7 |
| 9 mths. | F | 28.3.37 | 2 | 80,000 | 6 |
| (b) Laryngeal cases. | |||||
| 1 yr. 6 mths. | M | 25.11.36 | 14 | 44,000 | 67 |
| 5 yrs- | M | 26.11.37 | 1 | —- | 1 |