Epidemic
There is no abatement in the epidemic of influenza in London. The number of deaths was 1,084 above the average for the corresponding week for the past ten years. The mortality was at the annual rate of 35 per 1,000 of the population. Influenza is largely responsible for the heavy death-rate in other cities in England, Plymouth having a rate of 49, Portsmouth 42, Brighton 33, Croydon 32, and West Ham 21. It is stated that there is "not a nurse disengaged in all London," and that the demand has been so heavy as to necessitate sending to Scotland and other places for assistance. At the St. Neots workhouse in which are 104 inmates, over eighty of them are down with the disease. Some private practicing physicians have as high as 100 cases to attend to daily.
January 18, 1900 EJW, PTUK 46.22