[Report 1893] / Medical Officer of Health, Durham County Palatine / County Council.

  • Durham County Council
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1893] / Medical Officer of Health, Durham County Palatine / County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    9/172 page 5
    The increased mortality during the past year, though undoubtedly the result to a large extent of the existence of insanitary conditions, as shown by the large number of deaths from the “ preventible ” diseases, Typhoid Fever and Diarrhoea, was however mostly excited by the climatic conditions which obtained during the summer, the great heat favouring rapid decomposition, while owing to the drought sewers were badly hushed, and in some places impure drinking water was resorted to owing to the failure or bad quality of the proper supply. Influenza, which was prevalent both during the early months and towards the end of the year, also adversely affected the death- rate, both directly, and indirectly by increasing the mortality from acute lung diseases. The fact however, that the death-rate from Enteric Fever and Diarrhoea, the two diseases most intimately connected with in- sanitary environment, should have been more than twice as high as for the whole of England and Wales, although the whole country was subjected to the same climatic conditions, is strong evidence that the sanitary state of the administrative, county is not yet satisfac- tory, and no efforts should be spared to remove those conditions which are largely responsible for the prevalence of preventible disease, and which have the effect of lowering its public health below that of the rest of the country. Sanitary Districts and Adniinistration. During 1893 no alteration has taken place either in the number or the area of the sanitary districts
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