London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
City of London 1925
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Port of London]
This page requires JavaScript
TABLE III.
Return of the number of cases of Infectious Disease notified to the Ministry of Health during the year 1925, and of deaths from the diseases notified.
This Table includes all cases actually introduced or occurring within the Port, but does not include cases reported as having occurred on vessels during the voyage, but which had either recovered or been removed from the vessel before arrival at Gravesend.
| N umber. | Deaths. | Number. | Deaths. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smallpox | 4 | l | Brought forward | 71 | 2 |
| Scarlet Fever | 16 | - | Continued Fever | - | — |
| Diphtheria (including Membranous Croup) | 21 | - | Trench Fever | - | — |
| Dysentery | 6 | — | |||
| Enteric Fever (Typhoid and Paratyphoid) | 20 | l | Ophthalmia Neonatorum | - | — |
| Erysipelas | 2 | — | |||
| Pneumonia | 10 | — | Tuberculosis:— | ||
| Cholera | — | — | Respiratory | 67 | 7 |
| Plague | — | — | Other Forms | 7 | — |
| Puerperal Fever | — | — | Malaria | 19 | — |
| Cerebro-spinal Fever | — | — | Chickenpox | 21 | — |
| Acute Poliomyelitis | — | — | Measles (excluding Geriman Measles) | 16 | 1 |
| Acute Polio-encephalitis | — | — | |||
| Encephalitis Lethargica | — | — | Whooping Cough | 1 | — |
| Typhus Fever | — | — | Other Diseases | 105 | — |
| Relapsing Fever | — | — | |||
| Total | 315 | 10 | |||
| Carried forward | 71 | 2 | |||
TABLE IV.—P lague (Suspected Cases).
| Date. | Name of Vessel, Port of Registry and Official No. | Where from. | No. of Cases. | How dealt with. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1925. | ||||
| April 5 | ss. " Buchanness," Bideford, 144,727 | Karachi | l | Landed at Suez. |
| May 18 | ss. " City of Norwich," Liverpool, 135,479 | Rangoon | l | Landed at Port Said. |
| June 1 | ss. " Lycaon," Liverpool, 135,467 | Taku Bar | l | Landed at Suez. |
| Total | 3 |
PLAGUE.
The ss. " Buchanness " arrived from Karachi on the 5th April ; ports of call—
Karachi, 23rd February, 1925.
Marmagoa, 4th March, 1925.
Suez, 18th March, 1925.
Port Said, 19th March, 1925.
Algiers, 27th March, 1925.
On March 14th a fireman reported that on the 10th he had strained himself at
work, since when he had a lump in his groin. He had no constitutional symptoms
and temperature was normal, and he continued at work until arrival at Suez when
he was removed as "suspected plague" ; the ship was disinfected. No dead or
sick rats were seen on the ship which was stated to be very free from rats.
On arrival at Algiers the Port Authorities stated that they had been informed
from Suez that the case was not plague.
The diagnosis was doubtful ; it was possibly a hernia, and except that there
was a lump in the groin there seems to have been no grounds to regard the case
as plague.
All the crew remained on board.
The ss. "City of Norwich" arrived from Rangoon on the 16th May; ports of call—
Rangoon, 22nd March, 1925.
Colombo, 28th March, 1925.
Perim, 5th April, 1925.
Suez, 10th April, 1925.
Port Said, 14th April, 1925.
Algiers, 8th May, 1925.
London, 16th May, 1925.