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 1959
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for West Ham]
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INFECTIOUS AND OTHER DISEASES
(a) Infectious Diseases Table showing Cases of Infectious Diseases Notified and Confirmed, 1959.
| Diseases | Total 1958 | Total 1959 | 1 Age Group | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 5 | 5-14 | 15-24 | 25 & Over | Deaths | |||
| Smallpox | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Cholera | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Diphtheria | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Erysipelas | 11 | 15 | - | 1 | - | 14 | - |
| Scarlet Fever | 374 | 231 | 76 | 154 | 1 | - | - |
| Typhoid Fever | - | 2 | - | - | - | 2 | - |
| Paratyphoid Fever | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Typhus | - | - | - | - | — | - | - |
| Relapsing Fever | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Plague | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Acute Poliomyelitis; | |||||||
| (Paralytic) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - |
| (Non-paralytic) | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ophthalmia Neonatoru | m 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| Malaria | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Dysentery | 138 | 189 | 70 | 70 | 8 | 41 | |
| Acute Pneumonia | 88 | 133 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 103 | 27 |
| (All forms) | |||||||
| Tuberculosis; Respiratory | 95 | 86 | 1 | 3 | 16 | 66 | 11 |
| Meninges | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other | 14 | 10 | 1 | - | 1 | 8 | 2 |
| Puerperal Pyrexia | 3 | 6 | - | - | 3 | 3 | - |
| Measles | 411 2 | ,716 | 1,471 | 1,240 | 3 | 2 | - |
| Whooping Cough | 242 | 21 | 16 | 5 | - | - | - |
| Food Poisoning | 30 | 18 | 1 | 8 | - | 9 | |
| Leprosy | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Meningococcal Infect | ion 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| Acute Encephalitis: Infective | 1 | 1 | |||||
| (Post Infectious) | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| TOTALS: | 1,417 3 | ,434 | 1,656 | 1,492 | 38 | 24b | 1,241 |
COMMENTS
The total number of infectious diseases notified in 1959 was nearly two and a half
times greater than in the previous year. The rise was almost entirely due to the fact
that 1959 was a measles year. Measles tends to occur every second year in West Ham.
It is pleasant to note that no deaths were attributable to measles, although one child
in fifteen in West Ham had an attack of measles this year.
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