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These figures give an incidence rate of .02 per 1,000 people, and compare favourably
with previous years and with the rate of .07 for the country as a whole.
PUERPERAL PYREXIA AND PUERPERAL FEVER.
Elsewhere in this report it is shown that about 40 per cent. of all confinements in the
Borough took place in institutions. The tables on Puerperal Pyrexia and Puerperal Fever show
that about 60 per cent. of the former and 50 per cent. of the latter cases were confined in
institutions. This higher percentage is a complicated problem and difficult to explain. It
points clearly, however, to the fact that the environmental influences on these diseases are low
in comparison with the personal condition of the pregnant woman.
Abortion plays an important part, but its share cannot be expressed in figures. The
reason is obvious. Even in accidental abortions the cause of the Pyrexia is often missed, and
in many cases the incident is concealed. It has been suggested by many authorities that the
harmful effects often manifest themselves only at subsequent pregnancies and childbirth.
About 8 per cent. of all confinements in the Borough were of unmarried women, but
16 per cent. of the confinements which resulted in Puerperal Pyrexia were among a similar
class of women. This points to the higher risk of illegitimate pregnancies, which result in a
greater incidence of such morbid or fatal conditions as the Pyrexia under discussion and
also of Ophthalmia Neonatorum.
Nearly half of the women who developed Puerperal Pyrexia were primiparæ, and all but
one of the unmarried women were in this group. In the Puerperal Fever cases only a third
were primparous, and of the cases associated with abortion none were either primiparous or
unmarried.
It is interesting to note that the average age of the " Pyrexia " cases was 26, but among
those who developed "Fever," not associated with abortion, the average age was 36.