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61
[1905
TYPHUS FEVER.
Nil return.
CONTINUED AND ILL-DEFINED FEVERS.
Nil return.
DIARRHŒA.
The deaths from diarrhoea according to the returns tabulated in the Public
Health Department numbered 206. This is not inclusive of 109 deaths ascribed
to Enteritis but is inclusive of those deaths which are classified under the term
" Epidemic Enteritis " or " Zymotic Enteritis." It is, however, 28 above the
return of Diarrhoea as given for the Borough in the Registrar-General's Annual
Summary for London.
The figures here given are, however, correct, as the tabulation has been
made with the greatest care in the Public Health Department.
Compared with previous years, it is above the corrected average number
of deaths from 1885 to 1904. This of course is no doubt due to the fact that
it was not until recently that epidemic or zymotic enteritis was classified
under the heading of Diarrhoea and, therefore, the increase in the return is
only apparent and not real.
The death-rate from the disease represents an annual mortality of o-6o
per 1,000 of the inhabitants, and compares favourably with the death rate in the
County of London, where it was 072, and with the Encircling Boroughs, in
which the rate was 079.
0
It is satisfactory to find that the deaths from diarrhoea are not excessive
when compared with other places, although it is not pleasant to note that as
usual the mortality has been greatest in the early periods of life, for an examination
of the return shows that 150 of the deaths occurred among children under
one year old, and of these the greatest number were noted in the third quarter,
when 119 deaths were registered among these infants.
The causes that give rise to Diarrhoea have been discussed in many
previous annual reports, and, therefore, it is not proposed to enter on the
subject more fully now, except to emphasise the fact that there is no doubt
that the manner in which milk is kept in the houses of the lower classes
renders it liable to contamination and deterioration, and as a consequence
greatly promotes diarrhoea, sickness resulting in a large percentage of deaths.