[Report 1898] / Medical Officer of Health, Basingstoke R.D.C.

  • Basingstoke (England). Rural District Council.
Date:
1898
Catalogue details

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

Credit: [Report 1898] / Medical Officer of Health, Basingstoke R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    aA/vgjWAX'pV An«c.\i. PkEi'carr of Medical On-icEn. The Clerk read the following report: C.'iitlt'iBHn,-liipiosfntiii.s; iny niinii.il rppoil. T liivfiii-e iiiy ii‘inai ks l.y sayins that on the whole tiii) tteiioral hollh Inus heeu very satisfactory, .and that jil- t,hon;;h the ileath rate is somewhat hiiiher th.an it lias hecn of late years, namely, I.'. O asainst l:!.l in isjit 11-il in this increase is of no real sijtnilicance' as a irtually one half of the General mortalitv ooenrred’last year in peup.U* over H5, the majority of Ihkso heiii' verv aed anil (lyiMosimply from staiile decay. In ltji)0 the mortality over 0.) was only 01, .and in 1S07, kj. The death rate amongst infants under is somewh.at higher than last year, heing 3.2 per inoo popnl.atio'n ag.uust 2..'>m 139i. Tins increa.se is owing to tlie fact that whooping cough and bronchitisprevailedextensi've- ly in the earlier months of the year, 7 infantile de.aths heing attrihutahle to the former, and 10 to the latter disea.se. The birth iiite is neiirly the same .as hist ve.ar 300 against 302 and somewhat h’igherthan in lSi)U wlieii iJ onlv reached 290. During the winter.and .spring influenza and whoonin cough were epidemic throughout the rural district’ measles and scarlet fever in the summer .and autumn’ the last mentioned continuing sporadicallv to the end' of the year, and at various periods of the year diphtheria, oi a not very .severe type, .showeil itself in Xos. 1,4, and 5 Union districts. In cunseipience of these epidemics closure of seveial Tillage .schools was adopted. Four cases of typhoid (enteric) fever were notified ilvring the year, one of which, imported from Southsea ttrunnaUal fatally. ’ ■With these exceptions the rural district hits been free rom infectious illne.ss. 1 The de.ath rate from zymotic diseases was the verv tow one of O.S per moo population. There were eloveu deaths notified iimler this class, ii.aiiielv. 1 from dinh- tlieiaa, 1 from enteric fever, 2 from phlegmonous ery- •'ip'’I«4S, .iiJ'} / fi’Oiii 'J’lioic ■wtri'c 0 deaths referable to influenza and 4 to diarrlnca. There w.as no fatality amongst the .scarlet fever or measles patients, whilst smallpox and the othei noti- r ble diseases were ab.sent altogether. I may here mention th.at I have not found .anvni.arked opposition to vaccination since the new—and in my opinion very unfortunate—.A.ct came into force. Vit/ and .'fortal Stnli'sfle.f.—Death vote, 20.'! or 1.7.0 per moo population ; birth rate, 300 or' 22.2 jier 1000 ; infants died under one year, 33 or '2.4 per 1000 (or 110 per moo birth.s registered) ; infants under .0 and above 1 yeai, 12 or O.S per 1000 ; over (io years, 03 or 7.2 per 1000 • from zymotic diseases,11 or 0.8 per 1000 ; from phthi.sis,’ 14 or 1.0 per 1000 ; from other respimtory diseases, 23 or U7 per 1000; from heart dtsease, 17 or 1.2 per 1000 • ftom injuries, 5 ; from influenza, (i; from diarrlnea, 4. ’ .As regards the iiiciilence of the.se infectious ailments I I tllli V ill It.’tl ln<*.) 1 i t’iuig (lirtXif f.oll on individual localities, diphtheria fell chiefly upon No. 4 Union district, (i of tlie 11 notified ciuses having bee; ..aviiig been m hlierhorne St. Jolm, Rasing and Br.amloy, whilst one occurred in Ram.sdale, No. 1 Union district, the villai'e vvhich in 1807 boro the brunt of this disease, 2 in No. ”2 ■ Union district, and 2 in No. 5 Union district. Wit|; the Exception of the fatal case in Dramley, imported in an I advaiiceil .stage of the disease from Reading, .and in I which iiiiti-toxiu failed to arrest the complaint, all the I others ran a favoiir.ihle conr.se. Ilie drinking water in f every instance wasai>parent!y free from noxious qmiH- ties, and the .source of tlie infection lay iiio.st probably ill d.amp and impure air. .Scarlet fever fell alino.stentirely upon the villages of Cliddesdeii and K.llisfield in No. 3 Union district, and upon Basing ill No. 4 Union di.strict. The cases were generally of a mild type, hut none tlie less infections on that account, and as cottage children cannot lie pro|)erly isolated, the disease jia-ssed on its way, only parti.ally checked liy the n.se of all the precautions possilile under the existing conditions. An Isolation IIo.spital is .ahsidiitoly iicce.s.sary in deal- ing with this and other contagious disoitses, and I tiave every hope that 1898 will be the last year in which its absence will be felt. The enteric fever cases, 4 in all, were, with the excep- tion of tlie fatal one imported from .Soultisea, of a mild form, sporadic and distant from eacli other. No ca.se gave rise to others and there was nothing of :iii in- sanitary comlition in their snrroniidings. Of the six cases of erysipelas occurring in different / locaiities, 3 were plilegmonons and 3 simply facial. Of tlie first .series 2 ended fatally.hiit no contagion to others ■ followed in any in,stance. I Influenza and whooping cough weie distributed I impartially over the riiial di.strict .so long lus these complaints were in exi.steiiee. 3 ’ There w.as certainly le.ss infantile and general diav- Srluea than usual during the autumn, owing possibly to the freedom from moi.sture during the prolonged drought. 1 . This long continued al.’vence of rain during the siiiiimer and autumn, following upon a dimiiiislied rainfall in * the preceding winter, although producing a scarcity of j water throughout the rural district, did not adversely ; .affect tlie general health, and although all shallow and ^ many deep wells were dry for a long period, those thao t lield out, combined with a system of water cartage, 1() proved siifticient to distribute a moderate supply to j,I every cottage. One good result atteinliiig the drought ftn-w.as that man.v wells were thoroughly cleaned out and deepened. Fourteen deaths were registeiod from phthisis, 4 more tluin in either of the two preceding years, lint even this ineveased iiumher give.s an average lielow tliat in rural districts generally. As cottage accommodation, giving inore I'ooiii, light and air, increases, this .sad fonii of disease will liccome more rare. T congratuhite tlie sanitary aiitlioriry and the poor of the rnr.al district upon tlie coiiiiiletion (!) of the new \\ orkhoii.se intiiniary—a hiiildiiig of which llio di.strict may well be proud. In tliis new striictiiie there will ha no more overcrowding and want of ))roper .accom- inodation for nurses and patients, whilst of no .small advantage will be the [lossihility of treating se[iaralely such ciises as require isolation from others. c' Reference to the appended Sanitary Inspector’.s re- el turn will show that much useful work has hoeii done f• I towards keeping the district in a sanitary coiiditioii. I More cottage aecoiumodation is required in many of the ! villages—iiot.ahly in Riamsdale, Monk Sherhorno and Basing—and althougli many tenements have been re- paired and improved, but few new ones h.ave lieeii built ! In accordance with the Local (rovenmieiitorilcr syste- matic inspections a.s well .as periodic visits have iieuii made, and all outhreaks of an infections nature were , at once visiteil by the Medical Officer and the Sanitary ai Inspector, and all po.ssilde measures taken to prevent QQ extension of the disease. In the early autumn hills giving directions for the necessary precautions against tliolei'a, diarrhn-a, Ac., were distrihiited in every pari.sh. The hnkelioiises and dairy slieds have heea visited in the .spring .and autiiiiiii, liinewashed and kept in good condition. C. U. .lOlIN.SO.X, Sledical Officer of Ile.altii for tlie Basingstoke Rural District. l^anitarit Insp?,'.tor's —Oottuges pulled down, 2 : repaired and improved, 28 ; siiiit up, .'i; white- washed, 28; overcrowding abated, 7 ; well kerbs re- (laired, 2(1 ; waters tested, 20 ; new closets. 13; repaired do., 10 ; removed do., 12; clean.sed do., 20; jiigstyos removed. 2 ; do. cleiiiised, 4 ; drains clean.sed, l.l ; do. covered, 12; ceaspools remot edor cleansed, 10; rulibLsh heaps removed, 17. •Area, of rural district, C.'i,0.i3 acres ; (lopiitalion (la.-it census), I2,u.');t; estim.itod to middle of l.s'.'s, L! . ,‘0. A’*i*nEcuTEn. tl