Report of the City Health Department / City of Winnipeg.

  • Winnipeg (Man.). Health Department.
Date:
[1929]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the City Health Department / City of Winnipeg. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    15/152 (page 13)
    of the Public Schools, the visits of the nurses to the homes of absentees bringing the cases to light. It is particularly persistent when it gains a foothold in an institution for the care of children. Mumps was again very much to the fore during the year, a total of 905 cases being notified. We are of the opinion that this high figure is largely due to our being able to get better reporting of cases. The system inaugurated last year of allowing exposed children to continue at school for 12 days after ex¬ posure to a known case and insisting on quarantine and observation during the period from the 12th to the 18th day, made for better control and brought to light the secondary cases. The total number of cases of Whooping Cough reported was 933, deaths 10, as compared with 340 cases and 4 deaths in 1928. The crude death rate per 100,000 population was 4.9; the corrected, 4.4. These figures show what a serious disease whooping cough is and this fact has often been adverted to in previous reports. There is still too much apathy on the part of many parents towards this disease. Frequently we find unreported cases, and usually these are not looked after in a manner designed to prevent possibility of spread to families occupying adjacent premises. A number of these reach us through the protests of indignant parents who find their children exposed to such cases. Many cases are notified through the school nurses. We are convinced that better control of whooping cough will only be accomplished when parents and others responsible for the care of children appreciate the importance and danger of this disease, when they recognize that the early febrile stage, before the whoop develops, is highly infectious, and that precautions should be taken at this time with suspected cases instead of waiting for the appearance of the classical symptoms. The Department continues to supply pertussis vaccine and medical at¬ tention to persons unable to pay. The total number of cases of Diphtheria reported for the year was 475, deaths 21, compared with 605 cases and 22 deaths for the preceding year, the crude death rate per 100,000 population being 10.2 as compared with 10.9 and a case fatality record per 100 cases of 4.4 against 3.6. The corrected death rate for 1929 was 8.8. It will be noted from this that while morbidity was much lower, fatality was higher than in 1928. There were 76 non-resident cases, with 7 deaths, thus leaving the city with 399 cases and 14 deaths. The distribution of cases and deaths by wards is of interest as it goes to show that where the patient gets treatment early the chances of recovery are enhanced. Ward one with a morbidity rate of 161 per 100,000, records one death. Ward two has an attack rate of 248, and eight deaths, ward three an attack rate of 131 and four deaths. We have found that ward one parents have a higher average of early treatment than those in wards two and three, and these figures demonstrate how curable this disease is if taken early. As in the past fatalities occur almost exclusively among neglected or unrecognized cases.