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185
in the early stage of small pox. An inquest was held, and a
verdict returned of "death from natural causes, probably small
pox," although the House Physician in his evidence stated, that
the appearances were not sufficiently clear for him to give a
definite opinion. Enquiries discovered no likely source of small
pox infection, but measles existed in the block of dwellings in
Holborn, from which the child had just been removed.
The deaths from measles were 47, somewhat below the
average of the past ten years, which is 57. This gives a measles
death rate of .70 per 1,000, against .43 for the whole of London.
The deaths from scarlet fever occurring in the Parish were
3, while 10 deaths occurred among the cases removed to hospital
for treatment. The noticeable features are the same as we have
become accustomed to in recent years, namely, the extremely
mild type of disease and the small death rate, considering the
number of cases. The scarlet fever death rate for Clerkenwell
is .19, against .15 for London.
Diphtheria has caused during the year 16 deaths in the
district, the largest number of the past ten years, with the single
exception of 1893. Thirty-one deaths have also occurred among
the cases removed from the district for treatment, making a total
of 47 deaths.
Although a steadily rising death rate from diphtheria,
is common to the whole of London, we have much more than
our due share, our diphtheritic death rate being .7 against .5
for London as a whole.
The following are the death rates from diphtheria for the
past ten years :—
1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897
.39 .36 .28 .42 .42 1.15 .51 .51 .62 .70
Whooping Cough was responsible for 43 deaths in the
Parish, a number identical with the average of the past ten
years, 7 deaths also occurred outside the district, making 50 in
all, which gives a death rate of .75 per 1,000, compared with
.41 for London as a whole.