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
Hackney 1862
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hackney]
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striking feature of the epidemic has been the good social position
of a large proportion of the sufferers, showing that good ventilation,
good drainage, and abundant diet, and other "good things'
of this life, will not always ward off an attack of fever.
TABLE VII-
Phr Centages of Deaths in each Quarter, 1857 to 1862.
| Quarters. | 1857 | 1858 | 1859 | 1860 | 1861 | 1862 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First | 27.5 | 27.7 | 24.4 | 31.8 | 29.2 | 27.1 |
| Second | 21.4 | 21 3 | 21.4 | 23.5 | 22.4 | 24.1 |
| Third | 24.4 | 21.8 | 27.2 | 20.0 | 24.6 | 20.1 |
| Fourth | 26.7 | 29.2 | 27.0 | 24.7 | 23.8 | 28.7 |
| Totals...... | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
This Table shows the great variation which takes place in the
rate of death at different seasons of the year, and it would also
show, if the mean temperature were attached to each, that the
variations between different seasons is caused chiefly by alterations
of temperature, and this difference would have been much
more marked if the deaths had been classified into Spring,
Summer, Autumn and Winter quarters, instead of into first,
second, third, and fourth.
In the first quarter of the year, the rate of death varied
between 24.4 and 31.8 percent., never having been, except in
1859, below the average for the year, viz.: 25 per cent. In the
second quarter the rate varied between 21.3 and 24.1 per cent.,
so that the mortality of the second quarter was remarkably
regular, and never rose to the average. In the third quarter,
the rate ranged between 20.1 and 27.2 per cent., having been
with the exception of 1859, below the mean, and this exception