[Report 1893] / Medical Officer of Health, Ashton-in-Makerfield U.D.C.

  • Ashton-in-Makerfield (England). Urban District Council. n 78087965.
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: [Report 1893] / Medical Officer of Health, Ashton-in-Makerfield U.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Inquests.—Twelve; slightly below the average, owing probably to non-employment of so many workers (luring one-third of the year. Six were due to injuries received in, or connected with, mining, of which two were non- resident ; one from scalds; two from falls; two from smothering while getting surface coal; and one from an internal injury, result of swallowing a pencil. Analysis of Causes of Death.—Smallpox, 1 (aged 2, and unvaceinated) ; Scarlet Fever, 7 (all under 5); Measles, 3 (under 5) ; Diphtheria 1 (under 5); Whooping Cough, 7 (under 5) ; Enteric Fever, 5 (over 5) ; Puerperal, 10 (over 5) ; Diarrhoea, 34 (26 under and 8 over 5) ; Membranous Croup, 7 (6 under and 1 over 5) ; Erysipelas, 1 (over 5) ; Rheumatic Fever, 1 (over 5) ; Consumption, 24 (9 under and 15 over 5) ; Bronchitis, Pneumonia, and Pleurisy, 54 (24 under and 30 over 5) ; Heart Disease, & (1 under and 7 over 5) ; Injuries, 12 (3 under and 9 over 5) ; various non-classified causes, 143 (97 under and 45 over 5) ; total, 318. NOTIFICATION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE. Schedule of Act. Mortality. 1890 1891 1892 1893 1890 1891 1892 1893 Smallpox — ... — ... — ... 12 — ... — ... — ... 1 Cholera — ... — ... — ... — — ... — ... — ... — Diphtheria 1 ... 1 ... 1 ... 3 — ... 1 ... — ... 1 Membr. Croup 1 ... 1 .. — ... 9 4 ... — ... — ... 7 Erysipelas 10 ... 11 ... .32 ... 36 — ... — ... 4 ... 1 Scarlet Fever 53 ... 79 ... 113 ... 174 ...... 7 ... 6 ... 8 ... 7 fTyphus — ... — ... — ... — — ... — ... — ... — Typhoid or Enteric ... 15 ... 11 ... 44 ... 29* 6 ... 1 ... 10 ... 5 •? ^ ^ Relapsing — ... — ... 5 ... — — ... — ... — ... — c ^ Continued 28 ... 2 ... 13 ... 9 4 ... — ... — ,. — '^Puei'peral — ... 4 ... 5 ... 16 — ... — ... — ... 10 Totals 108 ... 109 ... 213 ... 288 21 ... 8 ... 22 ... 32 Not in Schedule— Measles 10 ... 7 ... 13 ... 3 Diarrhoea 10 ... 6 ... 11 ... 34 Pertussis 1 ... 10 ... 10 ... 7 42 ... 31 ... 56 ... 76 * One withdrawn. One also removed to Hospital proved not to be so. The Notification Act says:—“Every medical practitioner shall, on becoming aware of infectious disease, forthwith notify the same,” &c. Two or three instances palpably shew error in regard to this duty, failure of which entails a penalty. Isolation in Hospital.—Twelve cases of Typhoid (two deaths, one from last year), six cases of Scarlet Fever (no death), and 12 cases of Smallpox were removed to your Hospital, of which there died one unvaceinated child. Total, 30. Sickness during the year.—Although we had an exceptionally fine year, dry and wai-m weather throughout its whole course, yet if any insanitary conditions exist, it makes marks peculiar to itself in the development of various forms of illness, and to which reference will be made. The number of new cases coming to notice and requiring comment were—Smallpox, 12; Scarlet Fever; 174; Typhoid and Continued Fever, 38; Puerperal, 16; Erysipelas, 36; Croup, 9; and Diphtheria, 3. In addition to the above notified we had illness to a large extent from Diarrhoea and Gastro-Enteric Catarrh, and these two in particular during the hottest months of the yeai'; the death rate for the third quaider approaching double that of corresponding one in pi'evious year in consequence. Proportionate too, to the recorded deaths—three from Measles and seven from Whooping Cough— we infer a pro rata amount of sickness. My own personal observations, however, in regard to them did not strike me as unusual. In i-eference to Smallpox, the year 1892 closed with the disease all round Us, and it is not to be wondered at that we came in for (thanks to the ready means for isolation) a very limited share of it. At 10 p.m., Febraary 14th, in a miserable hovel on the St. Helens boundary, I examined the occupants and found several suffering from the disease—inclusive of the mother with an infant at the breast with confluent malignant Smallpox— unvaceinated. I had the lot, and all whom I knew had been exposed, removed to Hospital next morning,