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
Bethnal Green 1861
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Bethnal Green]
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Their relative mortality in each month conjointly with that of the Epidemics and Consumption differed thus:—
| Diseases. | January. | February. | March. | April. | May. | June. | July. | August. | September. | October. | November. | December. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small Pox | 2 | 3 | .. | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| Measles | 5 | 4 | 1 | .. | .. | 3 | 3 | 1 | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| Scarlatina | 5 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 13 | 8 |
| Whooping Cough | 18 | 25 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 14 |
| Diarrhoea | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 33 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 3 |
| Typhus | 4 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 15 | 7 |
| Consumption | 22 | 19 | 23 | 15 | 29 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 11 | 16 | 22 | 18 |
| Organs of Res-piration | 85 | 41 | 39 | 29 | 36 | 20 | 25 | 22 | 16 | 31 | 56 | 41 |
| Totals .... | 144 | 100 | 89 | 71 | 91 | 69 | 74 | 103 | 55 | 81 | 123 | 91 |
117 persons fell victims in the next, or Digestive Class,
namely, 46 by Teething, 30 by Jaundice and other diseases
of the Liver, 24 by those of the Stomach and Intestines, and
17 by other forms.
Classes 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12—including 12 from diseases of
the Kidneys, 21 from those of Childbirth, 12 from those of
Joints, 6 from those of Skin, and 1 from those of Malformation
—number together 52.
68 Premature Births and the premature debility and decease
of 2 individuals—one between 20-40, and the other
between 40-60 years—are registered under Class 13.
The two next Classes, 14 and 15, record 23 who passed
away by Atrophy, and 113 by that " incurable disease—Old
Age."
No. 16, the last Class but one, records 77 Sudden Deaths;
—some from Rupture of Blood-vessels and Affections of the
Heart and Lungs, some from Convulsions, and some from
Apopleptic, Paralytic, and Epileptic Pits.
Class 17—which consists of 4 deaths from Privation, of 5
from Want of Breast Milk, of 1 from Neglect, of 1 from
Accidental Poison, of 28 from Suffocation, and of 30 from
other Violent and Unspecified Causes, making in all 69—
completes the necrological list.