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 1963
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Heston and Isleworth]
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| 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 |
| 1958-1962 | 6,740 | 131 | 18 |
| 1963 | 1,487 | 17 | 11 |
These infant deaths can be viewed more closely by looking at the rates according
to age at death:-
Total infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births
(deaths under 1 year) 11.4
Neo-natal mortality rate per 1,000 live births
(deaths under 4 weeks) 8.1
Early neo-natal mortality rate per 1,000 live births
(deaths under 1 week) 6.1
The infant mortality rate of illegitimate infants was Nil compared with 12.3 for
legitimate infants.
It is thought that the same factors are probably in operation in relation to
stillbirths and early infant deaths, and that it is a matter of degree or chance whether
the child dies before or soon after birth. This loss of infant life can be expressed
collectively in what is called the perinatal mortality rate (stillbirths and deaths under
1 week combined per 1,000 total live and still births). For 1963 the Borough perinatal
mortality rate was 19.1 as compared with 29.2 in 1962.
MATERNAL MORTALITY. No death was 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 | - | - | - |
| 1961 | - | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| 1962 | - | - | - |
| 1963 | - | - | - |
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, tuberculosis,
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 varies to any great
extent from year to year. Persons travelling overseas may be required to produce evidence
of recent vaccination against smallpox or inoculation against yellow fever, cholera
and typhoid fever. Such certificates require to be endorsed by the Medical Officer of
Health, and during the year, 961 were so endorsed.
INCIDENCE NOTIFIABLE DISEASE. The number of cases notified during the year is
shown in Table VI and the trend of infectious diseases during the last 20 years in Table VII.
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