[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hendon RDC 1896].

  • Hendon (London, England). Rural District Council.
Date:
1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: [Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hendon RDC 1896]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    parish of Little Stanmore, with three fatal cases of roeasles, has a death-rate of only 13*46, so that I think you may fairly con¬ gratulate yourselves on the success of the means you have adopted, at great cost, to improve this portion of your district. The brook is no longer the sinuous open cesspit which was a terror to me in the earlier days of my tenure of office, and one can pass through the village of Edgware without being painfully reminded of the stenches peculiar to an Oriental city or a Venetian canal. The provision of a system of sewage has infused new life into this village. Most of the old rookeries have been pulled down, or renovated, and an air of prosperity prevails. Of the principal Zymotic diseases only 3 produced fatal results, viz., Diphtheria 3, Measles 3, Whooping Cough 1, total 7. All these 7 deaths occurred in children under 5 years of age. The zymotic mortality is then 0*91 per 1000 living as against 1*18 last year. Of the above three zymotic diseases, only one (Diphtheria) is notifiable, so that it is impossible for me to draw any inferences from the records of the other two (Measles and Whooping Cough). Twenty-four cases of Diphtheria were notified, with three deaths, giving a percentage mortality of 12*5. This is a very low rate, and indicates a mild form of the disease. I should much like to see the returns under this head, both in notifications and deaths, still further reduced, but I am afraid, that as long as road level openings into the sewers are allowed to exist, it is useless to look for any great improvement. Diphtheria.
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