Epidemic diseases and their prevention in the eastern suburbs of Sydney : paper read before the Eastern Suburbs Medical Association of Sydney, January 25, 1895.

  • Mullins, George Lane.
Date:
[1895?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Epidemic diseases and their prevention in the eastern suburbs of Sydney : paper read before the Eastern Suburbs Medical Association of Sydney, January 25, 1895. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    EPIDEMIC DISEASES AND THEIR PRE- VENTION IN THE EASTERN SUBURBS OF SYDNEY. PART I.—THE EPIDEMIC DISEASES OF THE EASTERN SUBURBS. The subject which has been chosen for dis- cussion to-night is one that is of the greatest importance to all who reside in or are con- nected with the Eastern Suburbs. You have been good enough to invite me to open the discussion, and I do so with pleasure, not because I feel competent to do justice to the matter, for I am fully conscious of my short- comings, but because the subject is one which gives me an opportunity of olfering some sug- gestions which, if adopted, would, I think, lead to a decrease, if not to a total disappear- ance of preventable disease in our district. At the present time Whooping Cough, Diph- theria, Typhoid Fever and other Epidemic diseases are of daily occurrence in our midst, and I hold that it is our daty as medical men and guardians of the Public Health to prevent the introduction of these diseases, as well as to treat them when they appear. You will, perhaps, understand the condition of the Eastern Suburbs better if I give you here some statistics relating to the district for the past few years. In the year 1890 the per-centage of deaths to the population was 1.164; in 1891, 1.333; in 1892, 0.94; in 1893 the rate was 1. 05. In the year 1892 the Eastern Suburbs had the lowest death-rate for any group of suburbs around Sydney and in 1893 it had the second lowest. During the four years 1890-91-92-93 the number of deaths from Zymotic diseases in the Eastern Suburbs was as follows :— DISEASE 1890 1891 1892 1893 TOTAL Influenza 1 33 5 3 42 Whooping-Cough 7 8 7 6 28 Measles 0 0 0 26 2G Ty|ilioid Fever 9 9 2 4 24 DijDhtheria 6 7 4 3 20 Scarlet Fever 0 0 4 9 13 It will be seen that these are the chief Epidemic diseases which have terminated fatally during the past few years, and to these, therefore, I will direct your attention this evening. INFLUENZA. Although Influenza holds first place among Zymotic diseases as a cause of death in the Eastern Suburbs, it is unne- cessary for me to go into the subject here, as the great part of the deaths under this head occurred during the epidemic of 1891, and we are now practically free from the disease. WHOOPING-COUGH. Next in order comes Whooping-Cough with 28 deaths, or an average of 7 yearly. Whooping-Cough is now very prevalent in our district, and during the month of December 1894, held first place as a cause of illness. It is an exceedingly infectious disease, chiefly affecting young children. The contagium is readily conveyed by the clothes of persons who visit the ])atients or who may be in attendance upon them. There is little doubt that the disease is spread