[Report 1895] / Medical Officer of Health, Sudbury U.D.C. or Borough.

  • Sudbury (Suffolk, England). Urban District Council.
Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1895] / Medical Officer of Health, Sudbury U.D.C. or Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    1/4
    SUDBURY URBAN DISTRICT OR bo^oUgH of sUdbUrY. Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health for 1895. Gentlemen, I have the honour of submitting to you my report for the past year, embodying the information required by order of the Local Government Board, and prepared in accordance with the form prescribed by the West Suffolk County Council in their circular of 1893. I.—VITAL STATISTICS. The number of deaths registered in the District were 143, giving a death rate per 1000 of 20-2, calculated on the census of 1891, which gave the population as 7059. This death rate includes the deaths of 29 persons in the Workhouse and of 3 in St. Leonards Hospital, who belonged to parishes outside the Borough and died in these Institutions, deducting these 32 deaths the actual mortality was therefore only 111, or 15-7 per 1000. The following table epitomises the ages at which the total deaths occurred :— Under 1 year of age Over i ,, Over 5 „ Over 15 „ Over 25 „ Over 65 ... and under 5 and under is » 25 „ 65 24 6 4 7 42 60 r44 The births registered numbered 180 or 25-4 per 1000. The following table shows the comparative births and deaths for the last seven years, which have occurred in the Borough. Births. per 1000. Deaths. per 1000. 1889 177 26-8 130 197 1890 175 26-5 172 260 1891 [new census] 184 26-0 126 17-8 1892 159 22-5 172 24'3 1893 192 27-0 142 20’ I 1894 170 24*0 J56 22-0 1895 180 25-4 143 20*2 Infant Mortality.—Owing to the absence of Epidemics particularly of Measles and Whooping Cough, the deaths among children under 5 years of age was about the normal average for a healthy year, being 22 per cent of the total deaths, while in 1894 it was high as 40 per cent owing to the prevalence of Measles. Old Age Mortality.—Owing to the intense severity of the winter, this death rate was rather high in the begining of the year though altogether it came out about the average, or 44 per cent of the total deaths. Most of the deaths were between 70 and 80, one reached 90, and one arrived at the extreme old age of 102. The following causes contributed to the general mortality. Phthisis 13. Bronchitis 1. Pneumonia 25. Heart diseases 7. Cancer 13. Injuries 4. II.—ZYMOTIC DISEASES. As the “ notification of Infectious Diseases ” is not yet compulsory in the district, it is impossible to give an accurate return of the Zymotic Diseases, which have occurred during the year; however no deaths took place from this cause. Scarlet Fever.—In October and November, a few cases occured among children attending both the North St., and the Board Schools, with some difficulty I discovered these cases in time to isolate them and to keep the children in the families from attending school. I also obtained from the school authorities the assistance of school attendance officer, and gave him instructions to report to me any suspicious illness among absent children, by these means I think an outbreak of scarlet fever has so far been averted. This was all the more probable because at the same time two adjoining rural parishes had their schools closed owing to the prevalence of this disease, altogether 8 cases in 4 families came under my notice. The houses where these cases occurred were disinfected. Measles.—Only two cases came to my knowledge in December, and these were imported into the town from London. III.—OTHER DISEASES. Influenza.—Though by no means so prevalent as in previous years, yet a number of cases occurred at the end of February and in March, the disease appearing as soon as the unusual long frost broke up. The Catarrhal type prevailed, in some instances whole families were affected, but in most cases only individuals who had previous attacks, in this respect resembling the recrudescence of ague and other malarial poisons. No fatal cases occurred. Pulmonary Diseases.—These were more prevalent than during the last two years, and the number of deaths due to these diseases was also higher, being 53 per 1000, against 3*7 in the two previous years. This difference was mainly the result of the intense cold and severity of the winter, the very young and the very old suffering most from bronchial attacks. . [p.t.o.