Dr. Thorne Thorne's report to the local government board on the sanitary condition of the Dewsbury registration district, with special reference to the prevalence of infectious diseases in the district.

  • Thorne, Richard Thorne.
Date:
1878
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dr. Thorne Thorne's report to the local government board on the sanitary condition of the Dewsbury registration district, with special reference to the prevalence of infectious diseases in the district. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    4 From this Table it will be seen that the death-rate from each of the causes specified was greater in the Dewsbury Registration District than in any of the other districts referred to. Table No. II. has been prepared in‘order to show in greater detail the annual mortality which since 1870 has prevailed in this district. Table II.—Mortality Statistics for the Dewsbury Registration District. Date. Estimated Population. Total Deaths from all Causes. Death-rate from All Causes, per 1,000 living. Deaths from “ Eever.” Deaths from “ Eever,” per 10,000 living. Deaths from Births. Deaths under 1 Year of Age. Deaths under 1 Year of Age per 100 Births. Small-pox. Scarlet Eever. Diarrhoea, Dysentery, &c. 1871 124,286 2,846 22-8 125 10 32 35 175 5,136 963 18-7 1872 127,427 3,187 25-0 105 8 38 22 217 5,311 1,066 20-0 1873 130,567 2,947 22-5 133 10 68 21 135 5,357 969 18-1 1874 133,708 3,807 28-4 105 8 232 458 203 5,507 1,115 • 20-2 1875 136,848 3,458 25-2 108 8 24 380 132 5,320 1,008 18-9 1876 139,989 2,965 21-2 68 5 1 39 166 5,648 947 16-6 1877 143,129 3,120 21-7 123 9 1 87 89 5,815 892 15-3 Mean for 7 Years, 1871-77. 1133,708 3,190 23-8 109 8-3 56 149 159 5,442 994 18-2 It will be observed, in the first instance, that the mean general mortality from all causes during these seven years has fallen from 26 during the decennial period 1861-70 to somewhat under 24 per 1,000, and that it was at its highest in 1872, 1874, and 1875. In the first of these three years it reached 25*0 per 1,000, and the increase was asso- ciated with an excessive mortality from diarrhceal diseases. In 1874, when it was at its highest, namely 28-4 per 1,000, small-pox, scarlet fever, and diarrhoea were epidemic, and in 1875, when it was 25*2 per 1,000, the epidemic of scarlet fever of the previous year was still prevailing. Thus these excessive general death-rates have on each occa- sion been associated with the epidemic prevalence of infectious diseases. It is, how- ever, perhaps even more important to note that mortalities from diarrhoea and from “fever” have in at least six out of the seven years reached epidemic proportions, and that they further indicate that these diseases have become endemic in the district. The “ fever ” was ascertained to have been almost exclusively enteric fever, a disease which is so invariably associated with defective sanitary arrangements that it has aptly been described as one of the so-called “ filth diseases; ” epidemic diarrhoea is also favoured by the same conditions. Hence both these diseases are peculiarly within the control of efficient sanitary administration, and as such deserve the special considera- tion of the Sanitary Authorities in whose districts they have prevailed. During the past year the mortality from enteric fever was higher than it had been since 1873, and in view of this circumstance, and of the fact that the prevalence of this disease is invariably associated with conditions favouring the excremental pollution of either water drunk or air breathed, the long continued high mortality it has occa- sioned in this district calls for special notice. With a view of indicating its serious import, I have, in Table III., compared the “fever” mortality prevailing in 1st., London, and 2nd, the large towns and cities of England, with that prevailing in the Dewsbury Registration District. From this Table it will be seen that the “ fever ” mortality in this district during the past seven years has more than doubled that of London, and that it has been about one-third greater than that which has prevailed in the large towns and cities of England.