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
Southall-Norwood 1906
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Southall-Norwood]
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Incidence of Typhoid Fever per 1,000 of population in
District,
| 1891 | 1892 | 1893 | 1894 | 1895 | 1896 | 1897 | 1898 | 1899 | 1900 | 1901 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.09 |
| 1902 | 1903 | 1904 | 1905 | 1906 | ||||||
| 0.08 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
Average Incidence for 16 years
0.2 per 1,000.
Provision for isolation of cases of Typhoid Fever at the
Hospital, will be a matter for your consideration in the near
future; since many of the London Hospitals on which we have
been dependent for the reception of these cases hitherto, are
now refusing to admit them.
Measles and Whooping Cough.
No outbreak of Measles occurred during the year.
Whooping Cough was prevalent, and caused three deaths
during the year. Since the disease is not a notifiable one, there
are no means of judging the actual extent of the outbreak.
It is regrettable, that most parents do not appear to take any
steps to isolate their children, or even confine them to the house
whilst suffering from the disease, yet Whooping Cough is the most
fatal and infectious complaint of childhood, and the utter disregard
shown towards this complaint contrasts strangely with the fear
which Scarlet Fever and Diphtheria engenders in most people.
In concluding this Section, it only remains to be said that
the year has been a satisfactory one as regards the incidence of
infectious sickness generally. How far this has been due to
preventive measures adopted, is difficult to say. There is much
evidence that infectious diseases come and go in tidal waves, and
when we are congratulating ourselves upon diminished incidence
resulting from improvements in housing, drainage, water supply,
and preventive measures generally, it is often the result of the
subsidence of the epidemic virulence, under conditions of which
we are ignorant. Until more is known of the essential causes
at work in infectious diseases, it is Utopian to expect to totally
eradicate such complaints as Scarlet Fever and Diphtheria. All
that can be done is to attempt to minimise their spread, and in
this connection there can be little doubt that Medical inspection
of School children is one of the best means, and I can only
reiterate that some system of this kind is essential in a district
like yours which contains an abnormably large proportion of
School children.