[Report 1936] / Medical Officer of Health, Dundee City.

  • Dundee (Scotland). City Council.
Date:
1936
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1936] / Medical Officer of Health, Dundee City. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Annual Report—1936 Although the death-rates for the year 1936 as shown in the summary on the previous page are a little higher than those for the year 1935, they can be considered as fairly satisfactory. The incidence of epidemic infectious diseases was rather higher last year than in the previous year. To some extent, this increase is responsible for the rise in certain of the figures. The corrected death-rate from all causes and at all ages was 14.1 per 1,000 population. The number of deaths was 2,526. The corresponding figures for the year 1935 were 13.2 per 1,000 with 2,346 deaths. This increase in the general death-rate cannot be attributed to any particular disease or group of diseases. All age periods shared in the rise, except between the ages of 25 and 45. The general death-rate for the whole of Scotland was 13.4, and for the large burghs taken together 13.8 per 1,000, so that by comparison, the Dundee figures show in an unfavourable light. The infantile mortality rate was 81 per 1,000 births compared with 68 in 1935 and 74 in 1934. The rate for the whole of Scot- land was 82 per 1,000 births, and for the large burghs taken to- gether 93 per 1,000. The Dundee rate therefore compares very favourably with that for the whole of Scotland. The increase in the Dundee figure last year compared with the previous year is, however, very unfortunate. It appears to have been entirely due to an outbreak of pneumonia which occurred during the months of January and February of that year. The total notifications of primary pneumonia at all ages for the year 1936 was 681. Of that total, 368 were made in January and February (266, January; 102, February). The highest number for any other month was 42 in December. In 1935, the total number of notifications of pri- mary pneumonia was 417, the highest month being February with 59. The primary pneumonia epidemic in January and February, 1936, was essentially a children’s epidemic. Of the 681 notifica- tions, 427 were of children under five years of age—191 at ages