[Report 1955] / Medical Officer of Health, Walsingham R.D.C.

  • Walsingham (England). Rural District Council.
Date:
1955
Catalogue details

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

Credit: [Report 1955] / Medical Officer of Health, Walsingham R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    PART 1 (General Report of the Medical. Officer of Health) 1, STAFF There was no change in the staff during the year under review, 2, The WALSINGHAM RURAL DISTRICT situated in North Norfolk com¬ prises 38 parishes and has its administrative centre at Fakenham, The district is essentially an agricultural one, although its nine miles of sea coast provide facilities for the mussel industry and an attraction for summer visitors. There are a few factories centred in and around Fakenham, The District has in addition a number of Defence Establish¬ ments and in last year1 * * 4 5 6 s report I commented on the effect of these establishments on the population. The population of the district as estimated by the Registrar General for mid-1955 is 24,130, exactly the same figure as for mid-1954. The natural increase of births over deaths amounted to 170, 3. BIRTH AND DEATH RATE During the year there were 359 live births giving a birth rate of 14.87 per 1,000 of the population. The comparability factor given by the Registrar General which when applied to the local rate gives a figure which can be compared with the rate for other areas is 1,29 Bor births. Thus the adjusted birth rate is 19.18 which compares with the rate of 15.0 for England and Wales as a whole. This high rate is accounted for by the increased number of young Service families in the district. There were 8 still births (6 being males), giving a rate of 21,8 per 1,000 live and still births, which compares with the rate of 23,1 for England and Wales, The 189 deaths give a crude death rate of 7.83 per 1,000 of the population - the comparability factor is 1,02 so that the adjusted rate of 7.89 compares with that of 11,7 for England and Wales, 4. INFANT MORTALITY RATE There were 7 deaths in children under one year and all these deaths occurred under 4 weeks of age. The infant mortality rate is 19.5 per 1,000 related births compared with 23,3 for the previous year and with a rate of 24.9 Bor England and Wales as a whole. The perinatal, rate, based on a combination of still births and deaths in the first four weeks of life and v/hich is considered to give a better picture of infant mortality is 40,9 compared with a rate of 45.3 Bor the previous year, 5. CANCER 26 oB the deaths in the district were recorded Brom cancer oB various types, 15 of these were males, the same figure as the average for the past 5 years, 11 were females, a figure well below the average of 18 for the past 5 years. Only 3 of these deaths were from cancer of the respiratory tract, 2 being males, 6, INFECTIOUS DISEASES (a) General There were 300 cases of infectious diseases notified during the year, a decrease of 267 from the previous year, mainly accounted Bor by a decrease in measles and whooping cough cases. There was, however, an increase in the number of cases of scarlet fever.