[Report 1905] / Medical Officer of Health, Morpeth R.D.C.
- Morpeth (England). Rural District Council.
- Date:
- 1905
Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Credit: [Report 1905] / Medical Officer of Health, Morpeth R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.
7/16 page 7
![General Remarks.—Whilst we may congratulate ourselves on the absence of small-pox and the general reduction in the number of infectious diseases, we must regret the small but fatal epidemic of diphtheria in the Widdrington and Broomhill districts, an epidemic which occurred, for the most part, in isolated farms, and must have been communicated by personal contact either at school or at public meetings. It is so very conspicuous, that I need hardly draw attention to the fact that Broomhill is the bete noir of the whole district. One hundred and three notifications of infectious diseases have come from Broomhill and Widdrington, and only 33 from the rest of the district. It is worthy of remark that North Seaton, Linton, a-nd Stobswood are very free from contagious diseases, whilst Pegswood, usually rather prolific, has this year been remarkably free; this may be due to the improvement in the drainage. It is to be hoped that Broomhill, which has more of an urban than a rural character, with its new sewage system, just completed, may show improvement in future. In the general death-rate, it is interesting to note the returns from the three largest Colliery Villages and for comparison the Agricultural district. District. No. of Houses. Approx. Population. No. of Deaths. Rate per 1,000. 1 Broomhill 750 3,990 km ms /O 18-8 Pegswood 440 2,356 36 15-2 North Seaton ... 332 1,670 28 167 Agricultural — 4,500 34 7'5 In conclusion, I must thank the members of the Council, and more especially the members of the Hospital Committee, for the help they have so often afforded me. (Signed) ]. P. PHILIP, Medical Officer of Health.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29803792_0007.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
