[Report 1895] / Medical Officer of Health, Lanchester R.D.C.

  • Lanchester (England). Rural District Council.
Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: [Report 1895] / Medical Officer of Health, Lanchester R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    20/28 (page 18)
    f8 Membranous Croup and Diphtheria, although notified separately, were in reality identically the same disease. The first case—one of Croup—directly infected another of Croup and 6 of Diphtheria. One case of Croup succumbed quickly, four eases of Diphtheria were sent to the Fever Hospital, and the others were effectually isolated. Puerperal Fever.—Four cases occurred during the year, but not one of them appeared to be due to one particular specific cause. No death resulted. Erysipelas.—The number (22) was a large one and the causes various; there was, however, a minimum of infection (if any) about the whole. One death resulted. Measles invaded the district once, commencing in June and ending in July. The number reported was 55, and the area it covered was confined to Annfield Plain and its vicinity. Previously the disease had been prevalent on the borders of the adjoining district some time, hence the invasion was not unexpected. Two cases ended fatally. Diarrhoea was less prevalent than usual. The few cases were unimportant from an infective point of view and none were fatal. The district was visited with Influenza, but probably not of the true type, although the returns give two deaths directly and one indirectly from it. All the cases that could be induced to enter the Fever Hospital were four of Diphtheria, one of Enteric Fever, and one of Scarlatina. With reference to the continuance of Typhoid Fever in Dipton, as neither the milk nor water supply—the usual channels for conveying infection—were at fault, and in many instances there had not been any communication between infected households, the cause, in my opinion, may be looked for in the present arrangements of the out-offices. Many of them consist of an ashpit with one or more privies attached, and the former, being uncovered and not cemented, material with infective germs percolate into soil close to the dwellings. To cement the ashpits without covering them would only convert them into uncleanable cesspools. Vital Statistics. The number of births registered, during that portion of the year ending June 15th, was 279, and the deaths 118. The birth rate being equal to an annual ratio of 40, and the death rate to 16*6 per thousand, estimating the population at 15*500. The numbers registered, after the division of the district, to the end of the year were 182 births and 96 deaths, giving a birth and death-rate of 38 and 20 respectively per 1000, estimating the population at 8600. The whole birth-rate for the year was 39,