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21
PUERPERAL FEVER.
Six cases, with three deaths, were certified, the attacks per 1,000 births being at
the rate of 1.5, as compared with 2.2 in 1905, 1.3 in 1904, 1.7 in 1903, 2.2 in 1902,
1.7 in 1901, and 2.5 in 1900. The death-rate due to puerperal fever calculated per
1,000 births was 0.8, as compared with 1.0 in 1905, 0.5 in 1904, 0.2 in 1903, 0.7 in
1902, and 0.5 in 1901.
DIARRHCEA.
The mortality from diarrhoea during 1906 was higher than usual in the Borough
The deaths were distributed throughout the year as follows:—2 were registered in
January, 3 in February, 2 in March, 2 April, 1 May, 7 June, 9 July, 58 in August, 88
September, 12 October, 7 November, and 3 in December. The deaths were most
numerous during August and September, and caused a marked elevation of the
death-rate, especially in the middle of the latter month. Altogether, the deaths from
diarrhoea numbered 194, not including 62 deaths, chiefly of infants under one year,
attributed to enteritis or gastro-enteritis. Of the deaths from diarrhoea, 156 were of
infants under one year, 28 of children under five years, one was of a child aged between
five and ten years, and the remainder were of persons over twenty years of
age.
The death-rate due to diarrhoea was 1.68 per 1,000 inhabitants, as compared with
1.30 in 1905, 163 in 1904, 1.23 in 1903, 1.12 in 1902, 1.30 in 1901, 1.40 in 1900,
1.75 in 1899, 1.79 in 1898, and 1.74 in 1897. The distribution of the deaths in the
wards of the Borough, and the death-rates are shown in Tables VI. and VII.
(Appendix).
The deaths from diarrhoea in the metropolis numbered 4,507, of which 3,340 were
registered during the months of August and September. The diarrhoea death-rate
was 0.93 per 1,000 inhabitants in the metropolis, as compared with 0.72 in 1905, 1.07
in 1904, 0.64 in 1903, 0.53 in 1902, and 0.85 in 1901.
The mortality from diarrhoea amongst infants under one year in Shoreditch during
1906 was at the rate of 40.3 per 1,000 births registered during the year, as compared
with 30.6 for 1906. The figures for the metropolis were 27.3 and 20.79 respectively
for the two years. A table giving a comparison of these rates for previous
years is contained in the report for last year.
During the diarrhœa season, enquiries were made in respect to 89 deaths from
diarrhoea amongst infants under 8 months old in Shoreditch. In eleven instances the
infants were stated to have been breast-ted when they were taken ill, but it is open
to doubt whether they were solely fed on the breast; in the remaining
76, or 88 per cent., they were artificially fed. Infants at the breast run comparatively little
risk of dying from summer diarrhoea, and those fed solely upon the breast practically
none at all.