View report page

4
Appearance and Course ok Epidemic.— The measures that
have been here enumerated, were taken with great promptitude, and
were on a scale commensurate with the actual and prospective wants
of the District. In the first week (that ending August 11th) for
which the Committee have complete returns, no less than 2,700
cases of Diarrhoea were ascertained to have occurred. At this time,
Cholera itself had only appeared in a few houses, and was directly
traceable to communication with some infected locality. At the
beginning of September, however, when ordinary summer diarrhoea was
declining, the cases of Cholera became more numerous, and throughout
September and the first half of October, one or two fresh outbreaks
were reported almost every day, and it became iu the majority of
instances impossible to trace the disease to previous infection of person
or locality. After the middle of October, only two or three fresh
families were attacked, and the last was on November 8th.
In an appended tablo (II.), are shown the weekly number of new
cases of Diarrhoea, Choleraic Diarrhoea, and Cholera with the death*
each week. (O. of C. II. 19 )
From first to last, 83 persons were attacked with Cholera,
reckoning those who were removed from St. Giles to the hospitals of
neighbouring districts, as well as those who died within the district.
Out of this number, 58 died, and 30 recovered, giving almost two
deaths out of every three attacks. But there can be no doubt that in
reality the disease was not quite so fatal as this, inasmuch as many of
the cases returned as Choleraic Diarrhoea, hardly any of which died,
were really examples of true Cholera in its earlier stages. Only one
death is recorded as from Choleraic Diarrhoea out of 70 cases returned
kjy medical visitors under that head. Three other cases of death from
" Choleraic Diarrhoea " were also registered, of which nothing but the
fatal event was known. If only half these cases were really slight
cases of Cholera, and should therefore be reckoned with Cholera, the
proportion of deaths from Cholera to the attacks, would be barely fifty per cent.
Each case of Cholera did not represent a separate outbreak of the
disease; the 83 cases having occurred in 70 families living in 69
houses. The culminating period of the epidemic was in the week
ending October 6th, when 13 cases and 9 deaths were recorded.
Comparing the virulence of Cholera this year with that of
former epidemics in St. Giles's, the Committee observe with satisfaction
a very much smaller mortality. In 1832, the deaths from
Cholera exceeded 300 , in 1849 they were 285; and in 1854, they were
113.* The Committee venture to assert, that the satisfactory result
* These figure represent the registered deaths of former epidemics. The
reyistered deal lis from Cholera and Choleraic Diarrhoea in 1866, were 48, and
this is the number which ought to be compared with those of former years. The
difference between the registered and actual deaths (53), results from including in
the latter, deaths of persons removed to outlying hospitals, and from other means
Shut have been employed to ensure accurate and complete returns.