[Report 1945] / Medical Officer of Health, Smethwick County Borough.

  • Smethwick (Worcestershire, England). County Borough Council.
Date:
1945
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1945] / Medical Officer of Health, Smethwick County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    slightly lower than that ot the 126 great towns. The nuniljer of infants under one year of age who died was 67, the same as for the previous year, but as the births were lower the infant mortality rate was slightly higher. The rate of 50.4 per 1,000 was however, less than that of the 126 great towns. A rather surprisiiig feature was that the illegitimate death rate was lower than the legitimate death rate for the second year in succession. The number of illegitimate deaths, however, continued to increase. During the years immediately before the war these births numbered about 40, whereas in 1944 there were 70, aiul in 1945 there w’ere 85. The figures have been doubled. The death raffe at 12.8 is rather lower than that of the great towns which was 13.5 per 1,000 The deaths from diarrhoea and enteritis Averc reduced from the rather high figure of last year of 14 to a figure of 9 in 1945. The increase in the death rate from cancer was halted for the first tijne in 1944, and happily the numbers dying from this disease were lower still in 1945. Respiratory diseases, however, increased fi'om 104 to 130. INFECTIOUS DISEASES. There were no serious epidemics of any disease during the year, and the incidence of scarlet fever and diphtheria was low. The numl>er of cases of scarlet fever Avas loAA'er than for many years and there Avere no deaths. The average number of cases of diphtheria Avhich occurred in SmcthAvick for the 10 years before the Avar Avas 155. The number of cases during the year 1945 Avas 42, a marked and significant reduction. This reduction Avas mainly due to the successful immunisation campaign and this is being continued. During the same 10 j’cars before the Avar there AAere 81 deaths, Avhile during the jjast 5 years there Avere 10 deaths, a reduction to one quarter of the number berore the Avar. TUBERCULOSIS. The picture as regards tuberculosis is a gloomy one. The number of cases notified (151) Avas the highest since 1920, and Avas approximately double the numbers in the ijre-Avar years. The increase aa as substantially more in the pulmonary type of the disease; the increase Avas in both sexes and in most age groups, but Avas specially marked in young Avonien of 15—25 years of age, and in men of 20—25 years of age, and in both sexes over the age of 55. The causes of the increase are varied, such as the aftermath of Avar Avith its long hours of Avork, Avith its blackout and consequent lack of ventilation, Avith overcroAvding in shelters and physical strain. The present housing conditions are helping to increase this incidence and to spread infection, and the shortage of hospital accom¬ modation for the infectious cases means that a larger proportion of the child population is exposed to risk, and Ave must expect an increase in this disease Avhich may take a generation to overcome. The closing of the tuberculosis pavilion at Holly Lane Hospital, due to shortage of staff, is an unqualified tragedy, but no efforts Avhich Ave have Ixicii able to make to secure staff have been of any avail, and the Ministries of Health and Labour have been unable to help us. We shall pay heavily for this closing in the years to comb in young lives. The death rate from tuberculosis has not increased in tlie same proportion as the number of notifications, but it is 25 per cent, higher than in the year immediately preceding the Avar. VENEREAL DISEASES. The number of Smetlnvick syphilis cases treated at the General Hospital, Birmingham, Avas 11 in 1937 and 13 in 1938; these figures had increased to 29 in 1944, but there has bcH;n a reduction in 1945 to 21. Gonorrhoea on the other hand has sharply decreased from 47 in 1938 to an average of 22 for the past 3 years. The total number of attendances of SmethAvick patients Avas normally 5,000 in 1938; it Avas a little more than half this figure in 1945.