[Report 1905] / Medical Officer of Health, Chorley Borough.

  • Chorley (England). Borough Council
Date:
1905
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1905] / Medical Officer of Health, Chorley Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    been fumigated and all clothing, bedding, &c., removed to the Steam Disinfector. Eight (8) cases of Diphtheria and Membranous Croup have been notified to me, of which one case of Diphtheria was removed to the Hospital and died there. Of the seven cases which were treated at their own houses five proved fatal. The mortality of the cases reported was accordingly 75 per cent. I think it would be of advantage if a supply of Diphtheritic Antitoxin were kept for the use of Medical Practitioners either by me or by the Inspector. The cost would be a mere trifle, and it would bo always ready for the immediate treatment of Diphtheritic cases and thereby no time would be lost. The mortality from Diphtheria has been so markedly lessened since the adoption of the Antitoxin treatment that any means of insuring its speedy application is, I think, worthy of your consideration. Typhoid Fever has been reported in thirteen (13) instances and four (4) cases were admitted into the Isolation Hospital, all of which recovered. Four (4) Deaths were registered from this disease, giving a percentage of thirty per cent, of the cases reported. Though the number of notified cases—thirteen—is somewhat in excess of that obtain- ing in 1904—only nine—it is much below the average for many years. No Death was registered during the year from Measles, but three (3) were recorded from Whooping Cough and eight (8) from Diarrhoea. In all cases of Scarlet Fever, Diphtheria, Typhoid Fever, &c., the infected houses are thoroughly fumigated under the direction of your Inspector, and the bedding, clothes, &c., of the person attacked are disinfected at your Steam Disinfector. During 1905 one thousand, three hundred, and eighty-seven (1387) articles were thus treated. HOUSE ACCOMMODATION in the Borough is generally good, and there is not much overcrowding in the houses occupied by the working-classes. Two (2) cases of overcrowding came to the notice of your Inspector during the year and have been dealt with by him. In [14]