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
Heston and Isleworth 1960
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Heston and Isleworth]
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It should be noted that 39 per cent. of these road deaths occurred in persons
aged 65 years and over as compared with 65 per cent for the same age group in deaths
from other accidents,
Care and attention in the home in the factory and on the roads is essential
and the special proneness to accidents of the aged should be remembered,
INFANT MORTALITY. During 1960 there were 25 deaths of children under the age
of 1 year, This represents an infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births of 18.2 as
compared with 21.7 for England and Wales.
The causes of infant deaths are shown in Table V. In the following table, the change in the local infant mortality rate over 5 year periods from 1898 is shown:-
| No. of live births | No. of deaths under 1 year | Infant Mortality Rate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1898 - 1902 | 4,369 | 698 | 160 |
| 1903 - 1907 | 5,264 | 665 | 126 |
| 1908 - 1912 | 5,383 | 590 | 110 |
| 1913 - 1917 | 4,661 | 461 | 99 |
| 1918 - 1922 | 4,326 | 327 | 76 |
| 1923 - 1927 | 4,333 | 271 | 63 |
| 1928 - 1932 | 6,055 | 318 | 53 |
| 1933 - 1937 | 7,121 | 313 | 44 |
| 1938 - 1942 | 6,912 | 393 | 57 |
| 1943 - 1947 | 8,210 | 345 | 42 |
| 1948 - 1952 | 6,680 | 146 | 22 |
| 1953 - 1957 | 6,157 | 134 | 22 |
| 1958 | 1,264 | 21 | 17 |
| 1959 | 1,275 | 21 | 17 |
| 1960 | 1,376 | 25 | 18 |
The hard core of infant deaths is due to congenital malformations, prematurity
and associated conditions and most of these deaths occur before the age of one week.
Continued effort is needed from all concerned to improve ante natal care, management
of labour and the nurture of young babies.
MATERNAL MORTALITY No death occurred due to causes associated with pregnancy
and childbirth.
Maternal deaths are usually divided into those due to septic infection and those due to diseases and other conditions associated with pregnancy and labour, and the local trend of deaths from these two causes is shown below:-
| Maternal deaths per 1,000 total (live and still births) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sepsis | Other Causes | Total | |||
| 1930 - 1934 | 2.6 | 1.7 | 4.4 | ||
| 1935 - 1939 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 3.1 | ||
| 1940 - 1944 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 1.9 | ||
| 1945 - 1949 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 1.4 | ||
| 1950 - 1954 | - | 0.3 | 0.3 | ||
| 1955 - 1959 | - | 0.2 | 0.2 | ||
| 1960 | - | - | - | ||
INFECTIOUS DISEASE
Notification to the Medical Officer of Health is the essential preliminary to
control of infectious disease The diseases required by statute to be notified are
smallpox cholera, diphtheria, membranous croup erysipelas, scarlet fever typhus fever,
typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever, relapsing fever, plague, poliomyelitis, tuberulosis,
malaria, dysentery, puerperal pyrexia, ophthalmia neonatorum, acute primary pneumonia
acute influenzal pneumonia, whooping cough, measles, acute encephalitis, meningococcal
infection, anthrax and food poisoning. It is known that all cases are not notified,
but there are no grounds for suspecting that the level of notification various to any great
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