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Unhealthiness of a district is, cæteris paribus, considered to be indicated
by the greater proportion ite number of deaths of children. In order,
however, to arrive at a more correct conclusion upon this subject, it is
necessary to know the number of children living in the particular district,
and the proportion it bears to that of adults. Moreover, it may happen
that infantile diseases, such as Measles, Hooping-cough &c., may be, at one
time, very prevalent and of a severe character, and thus raise the
relative proportion of the mortality of children, while, on the other hand,
Typhus-fever and other Epidemics, which are more fatal to adults, may
prevail, thereby also occasioning a difference in the relative proportion of
the deaths of children and adults.
In a return to an Order of the Honorable the House of Commons,
prepared by the Registrar General, and dated July 24th, 1863, it appears
that in the Whitechapel District the proportion of deaths of children
under 1 year of age, was 21,541 per 100,000, and that the deaths at
less than 5 years of age was 10,365 per 100,000 living of each class
referred to. In the whole of London, the proportion of deaths of children
under 1 year, was 17,194, and at less than 5 years, it was 7,802 per
100,000 living of each class respectively. It may be here remarked that
the Kite of mortality of children under 1 year diminishes month by month
during the first year of life, but it is scarcely possible with accuracy to
determine their rate of mortality owing to the fluctuations in the number of
births, and the annual variation in the fatality of Zymotic Diseases among
children. The registration of premature births is also a disturbing
element in the calculation. From a Table prepared by the Registrar
General, the rate of mortality of infants under one month, is, in England
and Wales, 57 per cent., and the mortality between 11 and 12 months 9
per cent., there being a gradual diminution of the rate of mortality in each
month of life. In those families whose circumstances enable the parents
to devote due care and attention to the health of their children, the rate of
mortality under 5 years of age varies from 2 to 3 per cent.
The Medical Officers of the Union have attended 4,498 new cases of
disease among the pauper population. There are included in this number
52 oi Small-pox, 88 of Measles, 7 of Scarlet-fever, 34 of Hooping-cough,
121 of Diarrhoea, and 199 of Fever. In the corresponding quarter of
the previous year, the total number of cases of illness among the poor was
4,902, including 77 of Small-pox, 9 of Measles, 24 of Scarlet-fever, 109
of Hooping-cough, 160 of Diarrhoea, and 54 of Fever. Not a single
case of Cholera has been returned by the Medical Officers during the quarter.