[Report 1902] / Medical Officer of Health, Peterborough City & Borough.

  • Peterborough (England). City & Borough Council.
Date:
1902
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1902] / Medical Officer of Health, Peterborough City & Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    It seems to me high time that some means were taken to insist upon the re-vaccination of all vagrants; at the present moment they are carrying Small Pox all over the north of England, causing disease, suffering and death, to say nothing of the pecuniary loss and the dislo¬ cation of trade which inevitably follows an outbreak of Small Pox. Scarlet Fever* 126 notifications, 2 deaths. Early in the year this disease threatened to become epidemic in the West Ward, chiefly amongst children attending the Cobden Street British School. How¬ ever, by recommending the removal of the children affected to the Sanatorium, closing and disinfecting the school, the further spread of the exanthem was considerably checked, and if has not since appeared in any epidemic form. It is the very mild and often unsuspected cases of Scarlatina which prevent it being entirely suppressed. Diphtheria* 71 notifications, 6 deaths. The continued prevalence of Diphtheria in the town is the only disquieting feature which I have to record. One of the chief predisposing causes is certainly defective house drains, which are often in the first instance badly constructed, especially as regards the joints, the result being that sewer gas finds its way into the houses, more especially in cold weather. All D traps, too, should be abolished, as they are bound sooner or later to permit an escape of sewer gas; moreover being moveable they are generally removed bodily when the yards are being flushed, and thus all sorts of miscellaneous articles find their way into and block the drains. After being replaced, too, people rarely remember to fill them up with water, and they, therefore, remain unsealed. Fixed earthenware gullies should be substituted for these obsolete and useless relics of a bygone age. I regret that more cases of Diphtheria are not removed to the Sana¬ torium, slightly over 25 per cent. The reason often given is that “it is only a mild case,” but it must be remembered that each patient may easily be the centre of infection for many other children, especially if allowed to return to school too early, and that such children may have a very severe attack, particularly if they are of tender age. Infantile Diarrhoea* 8 deaths all under one year. This is a very great reduction on former years, and very satisfactory; but last summer was a cool one, and it has been clearly proved that increased soil temperature is in some way related to Infantile Diarrhoea. Measles and Whooping Cough* 12 and 6 deaths respectively. There is no doubt that deaths from Measles form a large proportion in the Zymotic class, but whether any considerable reduction would be effected by making it a notifiable disease is open to question, owing to the fact that the most infectious period is just before the rash appears, and therefore before it could possibly be notified. Typhoid Fever* 8 notifications, 1 death. This is one of the most satisfactory features with regard to the health of the City that I