View report page

60
poor live in an urban district like Finsbury, that, quite apart from
the lesser suitability of condensed or cows' milk for infant feeding,
these two forms of milk readily become contaminated with dirt and
dust. Much pollution arises at the farm and in transit, or at the
milkshop, and much alsc in the home of the consumer, particularly
during a warm, dry summer.
The conclusion is inevitable that epidemic diarrhoea in Finsbury
affects children who are not breast-fed more than it affects others.
Hut it may be urged that these figures are too small and far too
short in period to be reliable. It may therefore, be well to add
that year by year increasing evidence is obtained in support of the
view that much of the epidemic diarrhœa of urban communities is
derived from the consumption of polluted milk. Reference was
made to this matter in my reports for 1902 and 1903. During
1904 we have carried out further enquiry into the conditions of
life obtaining in relation to 465 infant deaths. The total infant
deaths were 522. Into 465 of these cases it has been possible to
make enquiry; 116 of the deaths enquired into were due to
epidemic diarrhoea, and the feeding of 111 of these cases has
been investigated on the same lines as last year (when 190 were
enquired into). It is thus possible to give the results of enquiry into
301 cases of fatal diarrhœa of infants. The return is as follows :—
Age in month. Human Milk. Artificial or Condensed Milk. Human and Artificial. Cows Milk. Human and Cows Totals.
0-3 19 22 11 27 19 98 I
4-6 13 25 13 28 13 92
7-9 9 14 12 20 14 69
10-12 12 9 3 11 7 42
Totals 53 70 39 86 53 301