[Report 1898] / Medical Officer of Health, Bootle County Borough.

  • Bootle (Lancashire, England). County Borough Council.
Date:
1898
Catalogue details

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

Credit: [Report 1898] / Medical Officer of Health, Bootle County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    G that in 1897. Still the infant mortality in Bootle was certainly too large, and was in a great measure due to the large number of deaths from infantile diarrhoea. In the 3rd quarter the deaths from this fatal infantile disease was 94, of which 90 were of infants under 1 year. I am glad to remark, how- ever, that the diarrhoea was certainly less fatal during the last year than in 1897, for whereas the total number of fatal cases was in 1897 no less than 153, the total number in 1898 was only 114, or 39 less. On comparing the total mortality in Bootle in 1898 with that of the previous year, it will be noticed that there was a decrease in the number of deaths from 4 of the prin- cipal zymotic diseases in 1898, viz., a decrease of 7 from measles, 2 from scarlatina, 3 from enteric fever, and 39 from diarrhoea, and there was no death from small-pox. Unfortunately, however, there were 7 deaths from typhus fever, through an outbreak of that zymotic, from which only 5 deaths had been registered during the previous 10 years. There was also an increase of 3 deaths from diphtheria, and 14 from whooping cough. With regard to other diseases and causes of death, there was a decrease in the number of deaths from the following notable diseases :—22 from tubercular diseases (including 9 from phthisis), 13 from diseases of brain, 4 from diseases of kidneys, and 4 from deaths through violence. On the other hand there was an increase of 4 from influenza, 10 from cancer, 7 from diseases of heart, and 17 from premature birth. The number of deaths from pulmonary diseases and diseases of stomach, liver, &c., were nearly the same as in 1897. According to the Registrar’s returns, there was an increase of 2 in the number of deaths in the Bootle Borough Hospital, and an increase of 16 in the Corporation Hospital for Infectious Diseases. There was an increase of 173 in the number of paupers attended by the District Medical Officer during the year, the numbers in the 4 quarters having been as follows : — 1st quarter 271, 2nd quarter 231, third quarter 227, and 4th quarter 214 ; total, 943. Table No. 4 gives a summary of the deaths from the various classes of diseases, including the important class of zymotic diseases, the mortality from every one of which diseases is separately enumerated ; but Table No. 3 gives the total number of deaths from these zymotic diseases, after “ deduct- ing and adding deaths from outside and inside the Borough.” In accordance with the order of the Local Government Board, I will now pass on to refer to the sanitary work accomplished during the year, and supply information on each of the 7 principal zymotic diseases, and give a summary of the action taken, or which I have advised the Sanitary Authority to take, to prevent the spread of these diseases.