[Report 1881] / Medical Officer of Health, Newcastle-upon-Tyne City & County.

  • Newcastle upon Tyne (England). City & County Council.
Date:
1881
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1881] / Medical Officer of Health, Newcastle-upon-Tyne City & County. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    10 The followKig instances observed last year illustrate one of the chief evils of the ^lidden Svsteni:— %> (a.)—Five children in a family, at Xo. 2G, Diana Street, were struck down with Enteric Fever in the early ])art of the year. There was reason to conclude that the contagium had been derived from the open privy midden a few feet from the door of the house, which shortly before had been used for the deposit of the infected excreta from cases of the same disease at Xo. 24.* (b.)—Enteric Fever was prevalent in summer in a large yard at Day’s Buildings, Ballast Hills, and was attributable to an open privy midden used by a large number of families. The midden was opposite to and beneath the windows of the house where the cases occurred. (r.)—In April G cases of Enteric Fever were reported as having been removed to Hospital from a house in Flora Street, Byker. The illness was probably due to an offensive, open, uncemented privy and midden in the yard. The former is about 8 feet from the window of the room principally occupied by the family. There were other sanitary defects in this case, but that above described was the most striking. Three other cases of Enteric Fever afterwards appeared in a neighbouring household. This house had a similar privy midden to the last. (cL)—In July the following report was made to the Sanitary Com¬ mittee :— ‘‘Several cases of Enteric Fever have occurred lately at Jesmond Vale, and one has terminated fatally. At least four households are known to have been invaded, and seven persons to have been affected by the disease. With one exception all of these lived in Mill Street. At the foot of this street are two privies and a very offensive open uncemented midden containing a quantity of liquid. The rain from the roofs of the privies falls into this midden, and the water of the Mill-race laves its foundations. All the drainage of Jesmond Vale discharges into the Burn. Some of the drains are made of brick. The spread of infection is probably due to the defective state of the drainage and the offensive condition of the privies.” This report terminated with a recommendation of a Survey of Jesmond Vale with the object of improving the drainage and instituting a better system of refuse removal, etc. By the instruction of the Com¬ mittee a plan of and estimates for a complete system of sewerage for the Vale were prepared and submitted, but are not yet adopted, owing to certain impediments to the carrying out of the scheme. One of the most common vehicles of the contagium of Enteric Fever is Jlillc. In all outbreaks of the disease the milk supply is almost the * See Annual Keport, 1880, page 14.