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2 REPORT OF THE MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH FOR 1963
in doubt due to immunisation against this disease which is now
practised. There were no deaths from whooping cough or measles.
Two cases of typhoid fever arose in the Borough but these were
cases where the disease was contracted abroad and not in this
country. No confirmed case of poliomyelitis occurred during the
year. Last year the number of cases of tuberculosis coming to our
notice did not vary very much from 1961, but this year I am happy
to report there was a marked reduction in the number of cases of
which we became aware, namely, 293 as compared with 320. Since
the transfers from other authorities and those un-notifiable until
death, remained identical with 1962, the reduction to the number
of 27 was in respect of new notifications, namely, 165 as compared
with 192 in the previous year. There was also a small reduction in
the number of deaths from the various forms of tuberculosis,
namely, 25 compared with 27 in 1962 and 30 in 1961. These are
very gratifying reductions in a disease which is less of a scourge
than was the case in the not so distant past, yet still remains a
considerable public health problem.
The winter of 1962/63 was one of the most severe in living
memory and the cold weather extended into March. During the
period the Health Department was asked to help with a number of
problems, notably in relation to burst pipes and the difficulties of
some old people were accentuated during the cold weather. Nevertheless,
there was no obvious deterioration in the general health
of the Borough so far as one was able to judge. This, in general,
is confirmed by the statistics for the year although there were one
or two features which might be related to the severe winter. For
instance, although, owing to the increase in population, the adjusted
death rate did not differ very much from 1962, the total number
of deaths, in fact, was greater in 1963 than in 1962 by 212. Looking
at the different causes of death, there were, as is inevitable, some
variations between 1962 and 1963 but for two causes of death,
namely, pneumonia and bronchitis, there were distinctive increases.
For instance, for pneumonia, there were 414 deaths against 312
in 1962, an increase of 102 and in the case of bronchitis, there were
377 deaths as against 271 in 1962, an increase of 106. Deaths from
pneumonia include broncho-pneumonia which is not notifiable as
such. There were as many deaths from these two causes in the first
quarter of the year as in the rest of the year and predominantly in
old people. It is difficult to be absolutely certain of the cause and
effect in conditions such as these but it is possible that the increase
in the mortality from pneumonia and bronchitis in 1963 was related
to the severe weather in the early part of the year.
I reported last year in some detail on the work undertaken by
the public health inspectors in connection with houses in multiple
occupation. This work continued in 1963 and included in the body
of this Report is a table showing the work accomplished so far.
This work can be arduous for it is not merely a matter of making