[Report 1947] / Medical Officer of Health, Glasgow.

  • Glasgow (Scotland)
Date:
1947
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1947] / Medical Officer of Health, Glasgow. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    36/278 (page 36)
    Causes of Death.—The death rate from acute infectious diseases, 689 per million of the population was higher than the record low rate of 395 for the previous year. The deaths from typhoid and para- typhoid fevers remain at a very low level, 3 per million, while there were 5 deaths from scarlet fever compared with only 1 in 1946. Diph- theria was the cause of only 13 deaths representing a death rate of 12 per million of the population, which is the lowest on record and is an indication of the effectiveness of the Diphtheria immunisation campaign. Mortality from diarrhoea and enteritis of children under two years of age was unfortunately heavy and 574 deaths were ascribed to these causes, giving a rate of 522 against 274 for 1946. A considerable part of this increase may be ascribed to the high birth rate which will be referred to more fully in the Child Welfare Section of this report. Because of the prevalence of whooping cough the mortality rate, 70, was considerably above the rate of 19 for the previous year ; the respective figure for measles was 14 against 22. The death rate from pulmonary tuberculosis was lower—1,066 against 1,102 in 1946. The statistics of the disease are more fully dealt with in Section IV of the report. The death rate from non-pulmonary forms of the disease, 224, was practically the same as that for 1946. Last year a diagram was inserted in the report, showing the definite reduction which has taken place since the beginning of the present century in the mortality from abdominal tuberculosis, together with special notes on the reasons for the decline. The number of deaths still remains low despite the increased possibility of infection from the large number of pulmonary cases remaining at home because of the lack of hospital accommodation and nurses. Deaths from tuberculous meningitis were more numerous, 167 against 156, but deaths from the other non-pulmonary forms of the disease were reduced from 71 in 1946 to 58. Diseases of the Nervous System.—The death rate from diseases of ! the nervous system is slightly higher, 1,526 against 1,514. The rate