[Report 1919] / Medical Officer of Health, Durham County Palatine / County Council.
- Durham County Council
- Date:
- 1919
Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Credit: [Report 1919] / Medical Officer of Health, Durham County Palatine / County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.
5/70
![THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY PALATINE OF DURHAM. To THE Ghaikman ajvd Membeks of the Health Committee. Gentlemens, I beg toi present my Annual Report for the year 1919, which is the twenty-nintli of the series. In the Annual Reports I issued for the previous three years I explained the reasons for the deilay in issuing them whicli are equally applicable to the present report. It is my intention, however, to get the reports for 1920 and 1921 issued as early as possible in the present year. The Vital Statistics for the County during 1919, when compared with thotse for previous years, may be regarded as satisfactory though they compare unfavourably with those for England and Wales. Compared with 1918, when the total death-rate was 17‘0 owing to an exceptionally high mortality from Influenza, a total death-rate for the year under review of IT6 per 1,000 population is satisfactory. It should be noted, moreover, that during 1919 Influenza was again epidemic and caused no fewer than 1,535 deaths as compared with 2,924 in 1918. But for this exceptional mortality the figures for 1919 would have been very favourable. Owing to the delay in the issue of this report, I have been able to take advantage of the Preliminan Census figures for 1921, and the population on which the vital statistics are calculated in this leport are therefore approximat'ely accurate. It is satisfactory to note that there was nO' exce])tional mor- tality from any of the principal infectious diseases during the year, and it is particularly gratifying to note that the mortality from Enteric Fever, a disease which at one time was the iscourge of the County, is now almost as low as that for England and Wales. This progressive and marked reduction in the prevalence of Enteric Fever in the County is as gratifying as it is difficult to understand, for the view held by Medical Officers of Health is that Enteric Fever is directly caused by insanitary circumstances. In this](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29173073_0005.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
