Report of the Medical Officer of Health on the public health and sanitary circumstances of Johannesburg.

  • Johannesburg
Date:
[1971]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Medical Officer of Health on the public health and sanitary circumstances of Johannesburg. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    18/80 (page 10)
    REPORT OF THE MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH by a private company with medica] cover by the City Health Department® An out-patient clinic and resident out¬ patient accommodation for municipal employees are also provided at the C.M.R. Hospital. During the year 1 329 patients (l 300) were admitted to the Fever Hospital where the number of admissions, deaths and incidence rates of various diseases remained fairly constant. Bacterial meningitis accounted for 61 cases and tuberculous meningitis for 4, At the C.M.R. Hospital admissions totalled 1 571 (l 090). The morbidity and mortality of measles cases again caused concern. During the last 3 years there were 699, 617 and 940 cases with 39, 20 and 60 deaths respectively. Of the 940 cases in 1971, there were 392 local ones. During the summer poliomyelitis epidemic of 1971/72 there were one White case and 22 Bantu. Viral hepatitis showed an upward trend, 211 cases being adjnitted, 2 proving fatal. The discovery of the Australia, antigen has made a more specific diagnosis of serum hepatitis possible. The attendances at treatment centres for venerea,! diseases continued their upward trend with 6 470 (5 306) new cases. Of the 3 901 attendances at the Bantu Registration Examination Section, 1 247 (l 140) new male cases of gonorrhea and 876 (l 018) of syphilis required treatment. Cases of syphilis presented mainly with primary chancres. A similar observation was made at Orlando Clinic applying to 77°/° (58$) of proven cases. In females examined at the Registration Centre, the diagnosis of syphilis was based mainly on blood tests, a total of 908 cases needing treatment (3,4$). (STATISTICS FOR THIS SECTION ARE CONTAINED IN APPENDIX L) * * *