[Report 1913] / Medical Officer of Health, Barnsley County Borough.

  • Barnsley (England : Unitary authority). County Borough Council.
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1913] / Medical Officer of Health, Barnsley County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    9/80 (page 9)
    Brighouse ’42, Leeds, after Barnsley, has the highest Zymotic death rate of the big towns in the West Biding. I emphasise this point so that the public of Barnsley may become aware how urgently necessary it is tliat your Committee should take the action they propose taking in regard to the Privy i\shpits of the town. I fear it is beyond the powers, of any Sanitary Committee to make dirty people clean, or even desire to be clean, but over privies and manure heaps the Sanitary Committee has power, and this factor in our high DiaiThoea death rate is the only one over which you have control, and is, therefore, the point at which you must make your effort to improve the Infant Mortality and Diarrhoea death rate of Barnsley. The Local Government Board, in March, 1914, asked for Measles a special report on the deaths from Measles registered in January, 1914. From my records it was clear that January was only the climax of an epidemic which started in October, 1913, and lasted till March, 1914. I, therefore, prepared the following report on the whole epidemic, and as the first part of it occurred in 1913, I include it in this report on the year 1913. County Boeough of Baensley. BEPOKT ON MEASLES EPIDEMIC, 1913-1914. To the Chairman and Members of the Sanitary Committee. Gentlemen, In October there began a serious epidemic of Measles which lasted for six months, reaching its height in January, and beginning to subside in February and March, 1914. During those six months no less than 56 deaths were caused by Measles, of which 10 were attributed to Measles only and the remainder to Measles and some complication, the com- plication being in 38 cases Broncho-Pneumonia, 7 cases true Pneumonia, 1 case Whooping Cough and Broncho-Pneumonia. Four of the deaths were registered in October, 4 in November, 8 in December, 24 in January, 1914, 10 in February, and 6 in March. Throughout the epidemic the fatality fell with the greatest severity on the South East Ward, in which tliere were altogether 33 deaths from Measles, in the North Ward there were 8 deaths, in the South Ward 6 deaths, in the East Ward and the South West Ward there were 4 deaths each, and in the West Ward 1 death.