Mr. W. H. Power's report to the local government board on diphtheria at Hern Hill, in the Faversham rural sanitary district ; on the sanitary state of that district ; and on administration by the rural sanitary district.
- Power, W. H.
- Date:
- 1880
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Mr. W. H. Power's report to the local government board on diphtheria at Hern Hill, in the Faversham rural sanitary district ; on the sanitary state of that district ; and on administration by the rural sanitary district. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.
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![2. As regards the Duration, Extent, and Novelty of the Epidemic.—(a.) Of tlic eleven out- breaks here recorded, one commenced in August, two in September, four in October, and four in November. In point of duration, they varied greatly, from one to six months. In several of the districts thus infected the disease lias reappeared after some months had passed without any sign of its presence, hinting that the dijditheria poison may have still survived. The influence of season upon diphtheria prevalence deserves attention. The Registrar General’s quarterly returns show that for the whole of England and Wales diphtheria in its fatal results has a marked, and on the whole very uniform, variation of intensity within each year. Table I.—Diphtheria Mortality in England and Wales. Year. First “Quarter. («.) Difference, a and h. Second Quarter. (A) Difference, h and c. Third Quarter. (c.) Difference, c and d. Fourth Quarter. (d.) Dift'ereuce, d and a*. First Quarter next Year. («'.) 1870 - 710 — 186 524 + 67 581 + 302 883 — 172 711 (1871). 1871 - 711 — 128 583 — 109 474 + 161 635 — 49 586 (1872). 1872 - 586 — 111 475 — 69 406 + 119 525 + 64 579(1873). 1873 - 579 — 119 460 + 42 502 + 217 719 + 64 783 (1’874). 1874 - 783 — 115 668 + 51 719 + 231 950 — 64 896 (1875). 1875 - 896 — 151 745 — 125 620 + 197 817 + 44 861 (,1876). 1876 - 861 — 234. 627 — 26 601 + 132 733 + 26 759 (1877). 1877 - 759 — 212 547 — 74 473 + 270 743 + 70 813 (1878). 1878 - 813 — 108 705 — 11 694 + 333 1,027 — 224 803 (1879). 1879 - 803 — 90 713 — 170 543 + 254 797 — 80 717 (1880). Total 7,501 — 6,047 — 5,613 — 7,829 — 7,508 Average - 750 — 145 605 — 44 561 + 222 783 — 32 751 Table I. shows that in the last 10 years 1870-9 the mortality from diphtheria in the first quarter, sometimes greater, sometimes less than that in the quarter preceding, has alwa3^s exceeded the mortality in the second quarter, and this again in most years (seven out of ten) has exceeded that in the third. The most striking feature in the Table is the great excess which the fourth quarter constantly shows over the third.* From this fact alone, it might be inferred with some probability tliat epidemic diphtheria would be found to originate most frequently in the early part of the fourth quarter. The point is worth investigating, for, if established, it would lend support to the theory that the morbific agent is an organism ivith seasonal development, attain- ing its chief reproductive power in the autumn, the very season when the air is known to be especially charged with fungoid germs. Accordingly, I have collected from the 2nd and later Rejiorts of the Medical Officer of the Privy Council, from Reports by the Board’s Medical Inspectors, and from other sources all the records I could find, in a brief search, of dates of origin of diphtheiia epidemics and have arranged them month by month in the following Table :— Table II.—Monthly Distribution of Diphtheria Outbreaks. 1 ! i ] Reports of Medical Officer of Priv^'Council. Inspectors’ Reports. Other Sources. All Sources. j Jannarv - - - 2 2 0 4 ! February 3 1 2 6 March - . - 4 0 2 6 ! April . - - 3 2 1 6 , ^Tay - 3 3 0 6 •Tune - . - 8 2 0 10 July 11 4 1 16 August - - - 4 5 1 10 September 6 3 2 11 October - . - 16 14 7 37 November 4 10 2 16 December 7 3 2 12 Total - 71 49 20 140 * See iilso Oertel in Ziemssou’s Cyclopfedia of Medicine, Euirlisli Trans., vol. 1, p. .583, Avhere reterence is made to Wibnier’s statistics as showing especial prevalence of tiiis disease from September to December.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2499683x_0015.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
