[Report 1969] / Medical Officer of Health, Liskeard Borough.

  • Liskeard (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1969
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1969] / Medical Officer of Health, Liskeard Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    3/42 (page 1)
    BOROUGH OF_ LISKEARD TO THE MAYOR, ALDERMEN and COUNCILLORS OF THE BOROUGH OF LISKEARD. Your Worship, Ladies and Gentlemen, During the year which ended on 30th June 1969 the estimated population of the No. 7 Health Area, showed an increase of 700 to a total of 52,760. Of the six County Districts in the Health Area the Borough of Saltash showed the greatest increase at 250, whilst at the low end of the scale the figure in the Looe Urban District was limited to 10. Live births during 1969 totalled 810, an increase of 67 over the 1968 figure, and the largest number registered since 1948. This produced a corrected birth rate of 18.6 per 1000 of population some 2*3 per 1000 above the national figure. Of these 810 live births 54 were illegitimate giving a percentage of 6*7 asi compared with 7»1 per cent in the preceeding year. Deaths of infants under one year of age totalled 13 which gave an infant mortality rate of 16.0 per 1000 live births. As is usual 10 of these 13 infants did not survive the critical first four week3 of Idfe and 8 of these did not live for more than one week. No deaths resulting from the complications of pregnancy, childbirth or* the puerperium occurred during 1969* f During the year there were 734 deaths, an increase of 28 on the figure for 1968. The corrected death rate of 11.4 per 1000 of population was slightly below the national death rate. Again the most prevalent cause of death was heart disease which was responsible f'er 36% of all deaths. Cancer caused just over 21% of all deaths, and strokes were responsible for 16% of all deaths. Of the defined form of cancer, that affecting the lung/bronchus was most prevalent, and caused 28 deaths, a reduction of 6 on the corresponding total for 1968, but still a high toll from a. disease which is largely preventable. Whilst the overall incidence of notifiable disease was only moderate - 313 cases giving an attack rate of 5<-82 per 1000 of population - two troublesome minor epidemics were seen curing the year. In and around Pelynt in the Liskeard Rural District there wc_e at least 31 cases of scarlet fever, and in the ad¬ joining Urban District of Looe a further 27 cases were notified. In addition many more children and some adults who did not show the rash of scarlet fever, suffered from tonsillitis and .mpetigo both cf which are caused by the same organism which causes scarlet fever - streptococcus pyogenes. The main weight of this outbreak fell on children attending the Pelynt Infant and Junior School. In an endeavour to halt or slow down the spread of this infection throat and nose swabs were taken from all children actually attending the school on the several occasions when it was visited, and children found to be carrying the causal organism were excluded for appropriate treatment. As an ancillary measure the school was clo..cd for the two weeks immediately preceeding the normal Easter school holidey. When after this period of five weeks the school re-opened some children were still found to be carrying the infection, and some few more cases of scarlet fever, and tonsillitis occurred, but by the end of April almost all of this infection had disappeared. Some types of streptococcus are capable of causing mere serious disease which can permanently damage the kidneys and the heart, but fortunately these types were not encountered during this outbreak. During the second and third quarters of the year there was an unpleasant outbreak of infective jaundice which was largely confined to the Borough of Liskeard with a small number of cases in the adjoining parts of the Liskeard Rural District. One case which occurred in the St. Germans Rural District was a more virulent form of this infection, and caused the death of an 18 year old female.