[Report 1906] / Medical Officer of Health, Worsley U.D.C.

  • Worsley (England). Urban District Council.
Date:
1906
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1906] / Medical Officer of Health, Worsley U.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Ward special care lias to be taken of the children, so very few are born, the birth rate in that ward being- only 13\3 per 1,000. Table showing- Number of Births, Birth Rate, Deaths under one year, Rate per itooo born, and Total Death Rate in each of the Wards. Population. Bir X umber. tils. Rate. Deaths under one year. Rate per iooo born. Total Death l-tate. Whole District ... 13,174 280 21-2 42 150 14*8 North Ward 3,831 96 25- -j — 229 16-4 Central Ward 2,930 59 20*4 6 102 14*1 East Ward. 2,690 63 23*4 4 64 16-7 Worsley . 2,181 29 13-3 2 69 11- Boothstown 1,542 33 21 4 8 243 14*3 The Zymotic rate, excluding Diarrhoea is exceptionally low, *7 compared with 1*4 for the previous year—only 9 deaths were due to these diseases compared with 18 for 1905. We had not a single death from Measles, and but for Diarrhoea there was no epidemic of any kind during the year. Diarrhoea was somewhat prevalent during the last week of August and the month of September, causing 18 deaths—as against 4 the previous year, one-halt of the total taking place in North Ward. Three funerals in one street on the same day in that ward gave rise to reports of a serious epidemic, and was the cause of a special report being sent by me to the Local Govern¬ ment Board and the County Council, and was presented at your meeting in October. 1 there stated that in my opinion the cause was to be found in the mistaken idea of mothers that when children are teething it is wrong to stop diarrhoea, and medical help is sought when too late, and the other mistaken idea that children must be let have what they cry for. Both reasons simply meaning ignorance of the true wants of a child. I have no hesitation in saying that a large number of lives could have been saved by proper attention to the feeding and nursing after the diarrhoea began, and many cases prevented altogether. Lung diseases, other than Phthisis gave rise to fewer deaths than the previous year—38 as against 49. The notification of infectious sickness for the whole district amounted to 94, a decrease of 34 on the previous year, and of 6 on the ten years’ average—48 cases of Scarlet Fever instead of 71 for 1905, Enteric Fever was only reported 18 times as against 33 the previous year. The only increase was in Diphtheria, 23 instead of 8. The largest number of Scarlet Fever cases were in East Ward—21 out of 48-—whilst 12 of the 23 Diphtheria cases were in