[Report 1937] / Medical Officer of Health, Belford R.D.C.

  • Belford (England). Rural District Council.
Date:
1937
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1937] / Medical Officer of Health, Belford R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION OF FOOD. (a) Milk Supply. Cowsheds and dairies, of which there are 24 on the register, have been inspected, and instructions given regarding limewashing, etc., where necessary. Reports from the County Bacteriologist as to samples not up to the standard of cleanliness prescribed by the Milk (Special Designations) Orders, 1923 and 1936, have been followed up, and instructions given as to precautions to be taken in milking and dairy conditions generally. (b) Meat and other Food. There are no public slaughterhouses, and the five private slaughter- houses have been maintained generally in satisfactory condition. Bake- houses, seven in number, are found well kept. (c) Adulteration, etc. No action has been taken in this matter. (d) Chemical and Bacteriological Examination of Food. Chemical Examination is carried out by the Public Analyist at Newcastle- upon-Tyne. General bacteriological examinations are made by the County Bacteriologist. (e) Nutrition. No Special work has been done on this subject in the area. Section F. PREVALENCE OF AND CONTROL OVER INFECTIOUS AND OTHER DISEASES. During the year, sixty-four (64) cases of notifiable infectious disease occurred in the District. Chickenpox 27 Diphtheria 9 Pneumonia 11 Tuberculosis 4 Scarlet Fever 11 Erysipelas 1 Chickenpox occurred amongst children attending the Belford School, in January, and amongst children attending the Lucker School, during June. Diphtheria occurred in Seahouses and North Sunderland [6 cases], and one case occurred at each of the following places :—Outchester, Belford and Bamburgh. Five cases were in males and four in females. Five cases occurred in children and the remainder in adults. Of the five children affected with the disease, four had not been previously immunised against diphtheria. One adult male case proved fatal. The only immunisation against diphtheria which has been carried out during the year by the public authority, has that been done at the Infant Welfare Clinic in Belford, where infants are done after they attain the age of one year. There are undoubtedly many children in the area who have not been immunised against the disease, and it would be well for parents and those who have charge of children to realise the benefits of immunisation, and see to it that their children are protected against the disease by suitable inoc- ulation. Scarlet Fever occurred in Belford [2 cases] in January and February ; in Seahouses [2 cases] in March ; at Waren Mill [1 case] in September ; and at Easington [6 cases] in May and November. Ten of these cases were sent to Berwick Fever Hospital, as were five cases of Diphtheria during the year. Influenza was very prevalent during the first three months of the year and was of a severe type, characterised by chest and stomach complications. It was responsible for eight deaths.