[Report 1953] / Medical Officer of Health and School Medical Officer of Health, West Riding of Yorkshire County Council.

  • West Riding of Yorkshire (England). County Council
Date:
1953
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1953] / Medical Officer of Health and School Medical Officer of Health, West Riding of Yorkshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    7/130 (page 7)
    The incidence of, and the mortality from smallpox, enteric fever including paratyphoid fever, scarlet fever, diphtheria, measles, whooping cough, and diarrhoea in infants under two years of age was formerly considerably more than those of other infectious diseases. They were thus class¬ ified as the seven principal zymotic or infectious diseases, and it was customary to give a combined death rate therefrom denominated the “zymotic diseases death rate”, or the “zymotic death rate”. The zymotic death rates shown above are on this basis up to and including that for the year 1949. The mortality from all of these seven diseases has declined considerably and in some cases is now below that of some infectious diseases not included in the classification. Therefore, the combined mortality from the zymotic or infectious diseases is now best shown by a combined death rate from infective and parasitic diseases excluding tuberculosis, influenza, acute primary and influenzal pneumonia, enteritis and certain localised infections. The rates from and including 1950 are shown on this new basis. The respiratory diseases death rate is the combined death rate from bronchitis, pneumonia, and other respiratory diseases excluding tuberculosis and influenza. The maternal mortality rate is stated in two ways (a) per 1,000 live births, and (b) per 1,000 live and stillbirths. The latter is obviously the more correct way, but the number of stillbirths has been available only from the year 1929, and in order to provide a statistical comparison between the size of the rates from 1929 with those for previous years, the rates in the foregoing table are per 1,000 live births. The maternal mortality rates from 1929, per 1,000 live and stillbirths, are shown on page 10. Births and Infant Mortality The live births relating to the Administrative County numbered 25,026 (13,026 males, 12,000 females) in 1953, the crude birth rate per thousand of the population being 15.7 compared with 15.4 for 1952. There is no reason to suppose that this slight increase in 1953 over 1952 presages a halt in the downward trend in the birth rate which has been experienced since 1947. There were 633 stillbirths in 1953, the stillbirth rate per thousand live and stillbirths being 24.7 compared with 24.6 for 1952. Illegitimate live births numbered 950 which is at the rate of 38 per thousand of the total number of live births. The deaths of infants under one year of age numbered 733, being at the rate of 29.3 per 1,000 live births, the lowest rate ever recorded for the Administrative County. The mortality of infants at various periods in the first year of life is shown below: — Number of Deaths Deaths per 1,000 Live Births 1947 1948 1949 1950 1 1 1951 | 1952 1953 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 Male Infants Under 4 weeks. 450 339 323 319 297 285 265 26.7 22.9 23.1 23.8 22.8 22.6 20.3 4 weeks—3 months . 147 112 94 88 | 72 46 62 8.7 7.6 6.7 6.6 5.5 3.6 4.8 3—6 months . 130 99 94 76! 61 47 56 7.7 6.7 6.7 5.7 4.7 3.7 4.3 6—12 months . 117 80 73 48 1 53 38 43 7.0 5.4 5.2 3.6 4.1 3.0 3.3 Total under 1 year 844 630 584 531 | 483 416 426 50.1 42.6 41.7 39.7 37.1 32.9 32.7 Female Infants Under 4 weeks. 353 266 259 1 203 j 176 205 200 22 i 18.8 19.7 16.2 14.6 17.2 16.7 4 weeks—-3 months 82 84 68 57 51 45 43 5.1 5.9 5.2 4.6 4.2 3.8 3.6 3—6 months . 103 85 61 69 54 36 27 6.5 6.0 4.6 5.5 4.5 3.0 2-2 6—12 months . 80 64 65 44 | 34 34 37 5.0 4.5 4.9 3.5 2.8 2.9 3.1 Total under 1 year 618 499 453 373 | 315 320 307 38.8 35.2 34.4 29.8 26.1 26.9 25.6 All Infants Under 4 weeks. 803 605 582 522 473 490 465 24.5 20.9 21.4 20.2 18.8 20.0 18.6 4 weeks—3 months . . 229 196 162 145 1 123 91 105 7.0 6.8 6.0 5.6 4.9 3.7 4.2 3—6 months . 233 184 155 145 1 115 83 83 7.1 6.3 5.7 5.6 4.6 3.4 3.3 6—12 months . 197 144 138 92 1 87 72 80 6.0 5.0 5.1 3.5 3.5 2.9 3.2 Total under 1 year 1462 1129 1037 904 | 798 736 733 1 44.6 39.0 38.2 34.9 31.8 30.0 29.3 The table below gives a more detailed analysis of the mortality in infants (male and female) under 4 weeks of age in the years 1947 to 1952; the figures for 1953 are not yet available:— Number of Deaths Deaths per 1,000 Live Births 1947 1948 1949 1950 | 1 951 1952 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 Under 1 day . 254 209 237 193 i 176 229 7.7 7.2 8.7 7.5 7.0 9.3 1—7 days . 297 236 203 218 ! 221 183 9.1 8.2 7.5 8.4 8.8 7.5 1—4 weeks 252 160 142 in i 76 78 7.7 5.5 5.2 4.3 3.0 3.2 Total under 4 weeks . 803 605 582 522 | 1 473 490 24.5 20.9 21.4 20.2 18.8 20.0