[Report 1896] / Medical Officer of Health, West Riding of Yorkshire County Council.

  • West Riding of Yorkshire (England). County Council.
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1896] / Medical Officer of Health, West Riding of Yorkshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    38/100 (page 32)
    Whooping Cough (Tables II., III., and page 39). This disease caused 623 deaths, equal to a rate of 044 per 1,000 living, against an average of 425 deaths for the previous five years. The figures for 1896 exceed the mortality from this disease recorded in any year since the formation of the County Council. That whooping cough is a highly infectious and transmiss- able disease is observed in various reports, and the above figures furnish a tolerably strong argument that the prevention of whooping cough like that of measles is likely to prove a most arduous task for local authorities. The quarterly mortality from this disease in the West Riding as ascertained from the reports of the RegistrarGeneral was as follows :— 1896.—First Quarter 164 deaths. Second ,, 210 3 3 Third ,, 136 3 J Fourth ,, 114 3 3 From Table II. at the end of this Abstract it will be seen that measles and whooping cough together caused no less than 1,418 deaths in the Adminis¬ trative County during 1896, equal to a rate of DO per 1,000 of the population. These figures can hardly be ignored by Sanitary Authorities as the professed guardians of the public health. A serious responsibility rests, too, with parents, whose co-operation for the prevention of this disease is absolutely necessary, and even a greater responsibility, in my opinion, attaches to school authorities, who might take more thorough action for the preservation of health, and, at the same time, avoid the serious interference with education which a wide-spread epedemio involves. Little success, however, can be hoped for until absentees, on returning to school, are treated in some methodical manner before admission to the school. Notification of both measles and whooping cough is worthy of consideration, if only as an educational factor. Unfortunately, it often happens that notification is made sjmonymous with £ s. d. Diarrhoea (Table II. and page 39), judging by the mortality statistics, has not been especially prevalent during 1896. It caused 504 deaths, as compared with 1558 in 1895. As noted in the Barnsley Annual Report, this diminished mortality was probably due to the cooler summer. In the first quarter of the year 59 deaths occurred, in the second quarter 94, in the third 394, and in the last 64. Striking coincidence exists between Diarrhoea and Enteric Fever in their rise and fall; and, further, the former is generally a symptom of the latter, which leads one to look for a similarity of propagation. Warmth, moisture, stagnation, and absence of direct sunlight are the chief requisites for the development of microbic life. In other words, diarrhoea, like enteric fever, is most prevalent when decomposition of animal and vegetable matter is most encouraged by favourable climatic conditions. Careless dietary is also frequently referred to in the reports as a cause of diarrhoea. As shown in many reports, ill-flushed sewers, uncleansed gullies, dirty and uneven back yards, or offensive privies, provide, in warm weather, all the essentials for the production and dissemination of the infective organisms of diarrhoea and enteric fever.