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
Brentford 1911
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Brentford]
This page requires JavaScript
8
ENTERIC FEVER.—There has been a curious outbreak of
one part of the district. The cases were very mild. They were so
slight that the patients were scarcely in some instances confined to
bed, and there were no deaths.
DIARRH(EA AND ENTERITIS.—This disease has caused 26
deaths, chiefly in infants under 1 year old. 16 of these deaths were
in August when the weather was intensely hot, and I think it may
be attributed to the exceptional heat and absence of rain, for the
mortality was very general all over the Metropolitan area. I have
suggested elsewhere in my report one of the remedies I should like
to see tried.
The number of deaths from these 8 zymotic diseases has been
56, and the zymotic death rate is 3.3 per thousand, which is 2.2
higher than last year and 1 higher than the average of the last 10
years. As I anticipated in my report last year the low mortality
from these diseases in 1909 and 1910 was probably due to the cool
summer, and I was afraid that, given a hot summer and plenty of
fruit, the death rate would be as high as ever.
I am Sorry my prophecy was right and I must now try other means, if permitted, to check this disastrous and generally preventible loss of life.
| 1902 | 1903 | 1904 | 1905 | 1906 | 1907 | 1908 | 1909 | 1910 | 1911 | Average for 10 years | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of births | 532 | 536 | 545 | 530 | 476 | 519 | 464 | 468 | 479 | 434 | 498.3 |
| Birth rate per 1000 | 34.7 | 34.8 | 34.8 | 33.6 | 29.9 | 32.3 | 28.6 | 28.6 | 29 | 26.1 | 31.2 |
| Deaths from all causes | 237 | 200 | 252 | 208 | 216 | 234 | 174 | 175 | 157 | 207 | 206 |
| Death rate per 1000 | 154 | 12.9 | 16.1 | 13.1 | 13 5 | 13.9 | 10.7 | 10.7 | 9.4 | 12.4 | 12.8 |
| Deaths from Small Pox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| „ Measles | 5 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 26 | 8.3 |
| ,, Scarlet Fever | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.7 |
| „ Whooping Cough | 0 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3.5 |
| ,, Diphtheria | 8 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4.7 |
| „ Typhus Fever | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ,, Enteric Fever | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .9 |
| ,, Diarrhœa | 22 | 13 | 34 | 16 | 32 | 1 | 17 | 10 | 17 | 26 | 18.8 |
| ,, 8 Zymotic diseases | 35 | 24 | 70 | 34 | 59 | 33 | 21 | 28 | 19 | 56 | 37.9 |
| Death rate of Zymotic diseases | 2.2 | 1.5 | 4.4 | 2.1 | 3.7 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 3.3 | 2.3 |