[Report 1919] / Medical Officer of Health, Colchester Borough.

  • Colchester (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1919
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1919] / Medical Officer of Health, Colchester Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    38/60 (page 36)
    Death was ascribed to Influenza in 56 cases. The ages at death were :— 1-5 jrs. 6-25 yrs. 25-45 yrs. 45-65 yrs. 65 yrs. and over. 10 6 8 10 21 No epidemic of this disease occurred after that of the Spring. It WHS not found necessary to close any of the schools for this disease. Twenty-four civilian and one military case of Influenza were removed to the Isolation Hospital owing to their being severe cases that could not be nursed properly at homo ; of these five died. Malaria and Dysentery. All the cases of Malaria (24) that were notified were old cases in soldiers or nurses returning from abroad except one. This case was a boy resident in Colchester who had never been out of England and who contracted the disease locally. As the river Colne swarms with Anopheles Mosquitos, (the Malaria carrying type of Mosquito) it is satisfactory that this one case was the only one that was infected locally. Only 6 cases of Dysentery were notified amongst the civilian and military population but 38 were notified from the Mental Hospitals. All the civilian cases of both diseases are visited every three months and enquiries made as to their progress and freedom from attacks. Practically all the Malarial cases had had one or more re- currences but in the large majority of cases these were slight, necessi- tating at most a couple of days in bed, after which work was resumed. Similarly the Dysentery cases had slight attacks but these also were not serious, and both diseases appear to be dying out as is to be expected in the more temperate climate. Ophthalmia Neonatorum and Puerperal Fever. These diseases are dealt with in the Maternity and Child Welfare section of this report. • Venereal Diseases. Although the County Council is responsible for the prevention and treatment of these diseases, yet in a town of the size of Colchester,