[Report 1898] / Medical Officer of Health, East Grinstead U.D.C.

  • East Grinstead (England). Urban District Council.
Date:
1898
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: [Report 1898] / Medical Officer of Health, East Grinstead U.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Cancer. Eight persons died of the various forms of Cancer, equal to a mortality of I S per 1000 of those living; the average age of these eight people was 69 years, the oldest being 84 and the youngest 56. T ubercle. Public attention has of late been drawn to the subject of Phthisis or Tuberculosis. It is at last being realized that this is an infectious disorder, and as such should be dealt with by isolation where practicable, and by the observance of ordinary sanitary precautions in disposing of sputa from consumptive patients. The knowledge that Tubercle in the human being is frequently contracted by drinking unboiled milk from Tuberculous cows, will probably lead to more careful inspection of public dairies, and what is still more important, frequent examination by veterinary inspectors of the cows supplying the milk. Is it too much to hope that we may shortly be provided with a hospital for con- sumptive patients, where they could be treated by the “ open air ” system which is proving so marvellously successful at Nordrach in the Black Forest ? No finer site for such an institution could be found than on the higher ridges of Ashdown Forest. During the year 1898, 14 persons died of Tubercle in one form or another, 9 of these were inhabitants of East Grinstead, the other 5 died in the Workhouse, having been brought in from the Kural District. Smallpox. In view of recent legislation I beg to call your attention to the large and increasing per-centage of the un-vaccinated in this town and district. It is perfectly certain that sooner or later an epidemic of Smallpox will be upon us. At present there is no provision whatever made for Smallpox patients, for owing to the restrictions imposed by the Local Government Board upon the Joint Authorities providing the High Grove Sanatorium, that building would not be available for the reception of Smallpox patients. Scavenging. Acting on my recommendation the Council instituted a weekly instead of a fortnightly collection of house refuse ; this arrangement appears to have given great satisfaction. In a leaflet drawn up by myself and distributed to every householder, “ house-refuse was clearly defined and suggestions were made for the disposal—where practicable—of certain refuse by utilizing it in the garden as a valuable manure. The District was regularly inspected, and disinfectants supplied by your Surveyor in all cases of an infectious nature. The steam disinfector at the Sanatorium is in good working order and is invaluable where clothes and soft fabrics have to be disinfected. One house on the Coombe Hill Estate was condemned as being unfit for human habitation and was accordingly closed. Inquests. Three inquests were held during the year; in one a verdict was brought in of death from “ neglect and insufficient nourishment.” One was on a man killed in the London Koad by being thrown off his cart, and in the other a verdict of death from natural causes was returned. Thirteen samples of well water were sent me for analysis ; 10 of them were of good quality, 2 were condemned as unfit for domestic use and the wells were closed, and in one instance the owner was ordered to clean out the well.
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