[Report 1928] / Medical Officer of Health, Glasgow.

  • Glasgow (Scotland)
Date:
1928
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1928] / Medical Officer of Health, Glasgow. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    in epidemic form in tlie early months of the year and whooping- cough was more or less prevalent throughout the year, with a decrease in incidence towards the close of the year. Details of the increased prevalence of diseases of the central nervous system and especially poliomyelitis are given in the next section of this report, and children under one year have not escaped, as 25 male deaths and 13 female deaths wTere classified as due to meningococcal meningitis, these numbers being in excess of the corresponding figures for 1927. Comparison with Other Towns.—The following comparison based on a classification of the infant deaths in Birmingham, Liverpool, and Manchester, gives some idea of' the component parts of the mortality rates in these towns: — Rates per Thousand Births for 1927 Cause Glasgow Birmingham Liverpool Manchester Immaturity, 37-9 34-4 31-8 32.5 Diseases of Respiratory System, 30-0 15-8 25-9 20 3 Diseases of Digestive System, 134 106 15-2 10-7 Diseases of Nervous System, ... 4-9 2-7 3-7 4.7 Tuberculous Diseases, ... ... ... 1-5 1-2 1-3 10 Infectious Diseases, 140 3-7 7-7 8-7 Syphilis, ... 0-4 0-3 0-7 0-6 Overlaying, 0-4 1-4 0-7 0-3 Other Violence, ... 05 * * 0-4 All Other Causes, 41 5-2 6-6 6 7 Totals ... 107'2 75-3 93-6 85-8 * Not included in list given in Annual Reports. The greatest difference in the mortalities is in respect of infectious diseases, the rate of 3-7 in Birmingham being little more than one-fourth that of Glasgow which has a rate almost double those in Liverpool and Manchester. Diseases of the respiratory system are also definitely lower than the rate in Glasgow, which is almost double that of Birmingham. Diseases of the immaturity group are also somewhat more fatal in Glasgow. The essential difference in environment is that the housing conditions in Glasgow are such that there is much more intimate contact of child with child. Infant Mortality in Wards.—This information is contained in Appendix Table XII, which shows that the ward infant mortality rates vary from 37 in Cathcart to 101 in Calton, from 48 in Camphill to 157 in Mile-End. Other high rates were 140 in Exchange and 135 in Whitevale. Calton, Mile-End, and Wliitevale are contiguous wards in the east end of the City, and in view of their high infant mortality rates during 1928, a