[Report 1895] / Medical Officer of Health, Durham County Palatine / County Council.

  • Durham (England : County). Council.
Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1895] / Medical Officer of Health, Durham County Palatine / County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    75/202 (page 3)
    DURHAM. A. M. Vann, M.R.C.S., Medical Officer of Health. Area in Acres, 8So. Estimated Population, 1S95, 15,000. Birth-rate. Death-rate. Zymotic death-rate. Infant Mortality-rate. 31*9 21*6 o’93 198 Phthisis death-rate, 2*06 ; Respiratory diseases death-rate, 4*8. The birth-rate shows a somewhat re- markable increase. The general death-rate and the infant mortality-rate were both very high, the cause of the latter being assigned to improper feeding, while the general death-rate was also increased by the large mortality from influenza and chest affections during the early part of the year. Infectious Diseases. Scarlet fever (129 cases) was the only prevalent disease, its incidence being most marked in June and July. The probable cause of the 24 cases of enteric fever notified is not mentioned in the report. The city enjoyed complete immunity from small-pox, diphtheria, membranous croup, and continued fever during the whole year. Nearly 50 per cent, of the scarlet fever patients were isolated in the city fever hospital, and in only one house did a second case occur to which a discharged patient had returned. Disinfec- tion of infected houses is stated to have been performed by officers of the Corporation with very satisfactory results. General Sanitation. A scheme for dealing with the sewage of the city so as to avoid the pollution of the Wear has been