[Report 1903] / Medical Officer of Health, Northumberland County Council.

  • Northumberland (England). County Council.
Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1903] / Medical Officer of Health, Northumberland County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    rural district council did not consider that an isolaton hospital of any kind was necessary in their district. One joint hospital district was formed by the combination for isolation purposes of the urban district of Earsdon, Whitley and Monkseaton and Seghill, and the Tynemouth rural district for the purpose of providing a Small-pox hospital at Scaffold Hill and a hospital for infectious diseases other than Small-pox at Earsdon. The Newburn and Gosforth urban district councils and the Castle Ward rural district council formed an isolation hospital district for the whole areas of the urban districts above named and for part of the area included in the rural district. The original hospital provided by the Newburn sanitary authority is to be used for Small-pox cases by this authority only. The Hexham rural district council are anxious to provide a Small-pox hospital but up to the end of the year had not been able to procure a site. Smallpox and Tramps. For some years it has been admitted that legislation giving to sanitary authorities greater control over vagrants, especially in the event of the latter having been exposed to infection, is urgently needed. In connection with the above I may mention that during 1903 Small-pot was brought into sanitary districts in this county on twenty-four occasions. Pollution op Rivers and Streams. The sewage disposal works at Morpeth were completed and set in operation, and the sewers in connection with the new sewage disposal scheme at Ponteland were taken over by the district council. The Rothbury urban district council engaged a civil engineer who prepared a plan of sewerage and sewage disposal for the urban district. The effluent discharged from the Alnwick High Level Sewage Disposal W7 orks was very unsatisfactory, and the pollutions of the river Ain by very partially treated sewage from Canongate was not remedied. No steps were taken to remedy the pollution of the Haydon Letch and the river Lyne by sewage from Ashington, of the Briardean burn by sewage from the Earsdon district, or of the Seaton burn bv sewage from Hoiywell, Seghill, Cramlington, Dinnington Colliery and other places. Bacteriological Investigations. During the year under consideration seventy-six specimens taken from patients suspected to be suffering from Phthisis, Diphtheria, or Enteric Eever were sent for examination with the following results :— Diseases. Number of Specimens. Results. Positive. Negative. Phthisis 40 16 24 Diphtheria 20 4 16 Enteric Eever ... 16 8 8 76 28 48 B