[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Stepney].

  • Stepney (London, England). Metropolitan Borough.
Date:
[1953?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: [Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Stepney]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    6/70 page IV
    There were no cases of smallpox or typhoid but two paratyphoid cases. No deaths occurred from any infectious disease except one from Infantile paralysis, one from pneumococcal meningitis and two from meningococcal infection. There were 50 deaths from tuberculosis and 241 from cancer. The figures for 1951 wore 49 and 232 respectively. Perhaps the most serious happening this year was the great increase in the number of deaths related to a period of dense smoke-fog which occurred in London between the 5th and 8th December. The first indication of abnormality was the reported deaths of cattle at the Smithfield Show. Later it was assessed that 4,000 human deaths in Greater London could be attributed to the fog. For week ended 13th Decem ber the number of deaths recorded in the administrative County of London had been exceeded only four times during the past century. The effect in Stepney was indicated by the following figures: • Deaths in Stepney from bronchitis, pneumonia, influenza, other diseases of the respiratory system and cardiac diseases during the week of the fog and the week after (viz. weeks ended 13th and 20th December) were 115. During the corresponding two weeks in 1951 the figure was 37. Similar weather conditions bringing fog (high barometric pressure, low ground temperature and high relative humidity) may recur, and the obvious danger to health caused by smoke in fog has focussed attention on the need for further meas ures to achieve smoke abatement in London. Byelaws for the clean handling of food came into force on 3rd November 1952. These byelaws cover not only shops and cafes but also the sale of food in the open air. In the latter case they are difficult to apply. It is quite Impossible to equip food-barrOws with hot and cold water and proper sanitary conditions and no amount of care can keep dust and flies from food sold under such primitive conditions. With the multiplicity of well-equipped food shops in 1952, barrows and snack shacks would seem unneces sary, but ancient customs die hard. Stepney is a centre of the food trade. Much food is imported and there are important wholesale markets and food factories in the Borough. Hie pictures facing page 27 show the Council's food inspectors examining food on the -wharves under the Imported Food Regulations of 1937' and sampling in a food-factory under the Food and Drugs Act, 1938. iv
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