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
Surbiton 1898
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Surbiton]
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to this subject, and full particulars given of the
facilities offered by the Council in the Report
presented to you last year, copies of which were
duly forwarded to every medical man practising in
the district, a case came to my knowledge in which
the doctor in charge was unaware that this privilege
existed, and inability to pay the charges was
the reason why an examination was not made at
the time ; but later on it was done through the
Medical Officer of the Hospital, and the case was
found not to be diphtheria.
The following table serves as a record of this disease for some years past:—
| Houses invaded. | Cases. | Deaths. | AverageAgeper case. | Case mortality per cent. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1890 | 31 | 36* | 3 | 19.5 | 8.3 |
| 1891 | 16 | 21 | 10 | 9.8 | 47.6 |
| 1892 | 13 | 16 | 1 | 18.1 | 6.2 |
| 1893 | 19 | 23 | 3 | 18.7 | 13 |
| 1894 | 13 | 20 | 3 | 17.3 | 15 |
| 1895 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 13.5 | 8.3 |
| ‡ 1896 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 14.4 | 22.2 |
| ‡1897 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 14.4 | 11.1 |
| ‡ 1898 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 13.5 | 16.6 |
* 27 of these cases were due to an infected milk supply.
‡ The combined districts.
Infectious diseases
Notification
Act, 1889
This Act continues on the whole to work
satisfactorily, though later on I may perhaps have
occasion to bring to the notice of the Council some
cases of unreasonable delay in forwarding the necessary
notice. The district has been singularly
free from infectious diseases, and the fact of only
27 such cases having occurred during the year in
a population of nearly 13000 is worthy of notice,
as is also the fact that no cases are reported from
Tolworth, notwithstanding the large working class
population now living there.
The following table shows the notifications
made since the Act came into force:—
9