[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Wimbledon].

  • Wimbledon (London, England). Urban District Council.
Date:
[1898?]
Catalogue details

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

Credit: [Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Wimbledon]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    9/32 (page 7)
    r Typhoid Fever. Seventeen cases were notified, and one death occurred against ten last year and two deaths, and fourteen in 1895 and one death. No cases occurred in April, June, August and October. Two cases occurred in February, two in March, three in May, three in September, four in November, and one in each of the three remaining months (see Table 2). The fatal case occurred in February at a house in Pelham Eoad, a gentleman, aged 58 years, who contracted the disease in London. Four of the cases (notified by one medical man) were infants aged respectively two years, one year, eleven months, and eight months. At most of the houses where the cases occurred the drains and sanitary arrangements were found to be in good condition, and free from defects. At those premises whore defects existed, notices were served on the owners and the defects remedied, and in all cases special attention was given to the cleansing and disinfection of drink ing water cisterns. I have not been able to discover any cause to account for the increase of the disease. The small percentage of deaths goes to prove that the disease was not of a very serious nature, and in my experience the occurrence of the disease in infants a few months old is quite unusual, except in cases of epidemics. Measles. As will be seen by Table B there were 16 deaths from Measles, while there were only thirteen deaths in the year from all the notifiable diseases. Measles is therefore responsible for three more deaths than all the notifiable diseases together In previous reports I have strongly advised the compulsory notification of this disease, so that preventive measures may be taken. I am well aware what the notification of this disease implies; viz.: notification fees to medical men, extra duties, and perhaps additional staff, etc.; but notwithstanding I think the Council should take some steps to try if possible to check the spread of a disease which has proved so deadly amongst the young children in this district.