Mr. Spear's report to the Local Government Board upon an outbreak of enteric fever in the Pemberton urban sanitary district, Lancashire / [John Spear].

  • Spear, John.
Date:
[1890]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Mr. Spear's report to the Local Government Board upon an outbreak of enteric fever in the Pemberton urban sanitary district, Lancashire / [John Spear]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    houses—was, except for a single case at Orrell Post, free during this time, although both earlier and later in the year scattered cases occurred, as shown in the table below, in this wider area. Table I._The following table relates to the total number of ascertained family invasions during 1889 in the two sanitary districts. Household Invasions in 1889. Lamberhead Green. Other parts of Pemberton Urban Sanitary District. Other parts of Orrell Urban Sanitary Distri ct. Pemberton Division. Orrell Division. New Town. Locality between New Town and Lamberhead Green. Other parts of Pemberton Urban Sanitary District. Far Moor. Orrell Post. January _ -_ — — — — February - - — — March - - — — — April - — — — — --* ’ May - •- — 1 1 i June - — — — —' 'July 6 - - — — — — — 1 r „ 13 - 1 — — — — „ 20 - - — 1 — 1 — —— — hi) „ 27 - — — - - — — “ — Aug. 8 - - 7 7 2 1 — — 1 & „ 10 - 5 9 2 1 — — * J 1 „ 17- - 3 2 1 — — — — <D „ 24 - 2 1 2 -- -• £ 99 31 - 4 — — 1 — — Sept. 7 - — — — — — — „ 14 - - 1 — 1 — — ““ — „ 21 — 1 — — — — — — . 28 - . |-j 1 — — — — — — October - — — — — — — — November - . — — — — — 3 2 December — 1 — 1 — 1 — L -v~ ) Locality of fever prevalence during the third quarter of the year. Epidemic period. Beyond epidemic area. I have spoken of the epidemic prevalence as occurring during the third quarter, but, so far as initial cases, i.e., new family invasions, were concerned, its duration was exceedingly limited. Of the total number of 45 family invasions at Lamberhead Green, 32 occurred within the 16 days, July 30th to August 14th. Making allowance for the somewhat wide variation, according to common experience, of the period of incubation in the case of enteric fever, and for the varying individual tendency to make early or late complaint of a sickness that commences insidiously, it seems not improbable that the exact date of infection in these 32 cases was the same. For the reasons named, the limit of 16 days might, indeed, be reasonably extended, and three or four more household invasions in Lamberhead Green be brought within the category of simultaneous infections. Of the cases later than this, the circumstances, in most of them, suggested the probability that they were dependent upon, and secondary to, the earlier ones. The majority occurred in a dirty neglected locality in the Pemberton division of the village. In two instances the sufferer had washed linen and clothing from an infected house ; in two, a next door neighbour had suffered before, and the same privy was used in common ; another of these later sufferers had been a frequent visitor at an infected house, taking food, &c., there. As to the 13 household invasions beyond Lamberhead Green, a similar though less marked incidence in point of time was observed. Seven of the 13 occurred within the 16 days interval spoken of above, four of these being at New Town, two in the locality between New Town and Lamberhead Green, and one at Orreli Post, m four of these seven cases, however, including the one at Orrell Post, the patient had, I found, visited Lamber- nead Green within a short while, and may possibly, therefore, have contracted infection there. The exact date of the visit could be fixed in three cases; in