[Report 1904] / Medical Officer of Health, Chatham Borough.
- Chatham (Kent, England). Borough Council.
- Date:
- 1904
Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Credit: [Report 1904] / Medical Officer of Health, Chatham Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![Births and Deaths, who ,sends immediate notiee any deatli from (consumption, and thus many rooms are cleansed and disinfected, which would otherwise escape observation. One of the great difficulties in dealing with a disease of this char- acter is that in the majority of instances it is of long duration and many ])atients are able to go about their vocations until the later stages of the disease, and therefore such isolation as is practised with many infectious disease is an impossibility. The cliief gain from this system of notification is that it leads to the gradual education of the public not only as to the infectious nature of the malady, but to the ease with which infection can be limited by recourse to proper precautions. A refer- ence to the advice which is embodied in a handbill circulated bv the Sanitary Department, and which is given to every patient, will show that the spit or phlegm is the chief vehicle of infection, but we must not forget that overcrowding, badly ventilated and dirty houses and workshops are powerful predisposing causes, and while on the one hand a large expenditure is going on in various parts of the country with res- pect to the provision and maintenance of admirably equipped Sanatoria which are of enormous benefit to the comparatively few cases they treat and whose educational influence is of a far reachino' character—on the other hand what is of infinitely more importance is the improvement of dwelling places, and the strict enforcement of Sanitary laws, and these are essentially the duties of every municipality. In this connection I would urge tliat the most serious factor we have to deal with in all mat- ters of health is the apathy of the public in personally contributing to the general welfare. Well-built houses, good drainage, pure water supply and adequate ventilation will do much, but their effect is largely dis- counted unless the people can be made to recognise the fact that the individual practice of sanitary laws is necessary for the well-being of a community, and that the amount of sickness is much more dependent on ignorance and neglect of plain rules of health than on imperfect drainage. HEART DISEASES caused 54 deaths as compared with 63 during’ 1903. From Accidents there were , 5 deaths and 1 from suicide. Cancer and other forms of malignant disease caused 31 deaths, and from diseases of the Nervous System, 56 deaths were recorded. ZYMOTIC DISEASES.—The subjoined statement shows the mortalitv from diseases of this class, and also from Enteritis :— 1904. 1903. Increase or decrease. Measles lO .. 13 .. — 3 Scarlet Fever . 1 . . 3 . . 2 Whooping Cough . . 2 . . 5 . . — 3 Diphtheria and Membra- nous Croup 2 . . 3 . , 1 Diarrhoea 69 ' 14 .. -1-55 Enteritis 24 , . 16 . . -f 8](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29098853_0006.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
