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10
According to the previous methods of classification I could have
shown a marked diminution in the number of deaths from Diarrhoea,
but the method as now suggested is more satisfactory.
The number of deaths from Diarrhoea in each district was as
follows:—
acton. s. acton. e. acton. a. green. willesden. b. park.
19 l8 - 9 - 2
Diarrhoea is one of the epidemic diseases that has shown no tendency
to decrease with the advance of sanitation, and its prevention is a subject
of anxious interest to those responsible for the health of a District. One
of the primary causes in this district lies in the fact that the mothers
wean their children very early, so as to be able to continue their work at
the laundries. The children are left to the younger members of the
family, or put out to nurse with perhaps some equally ignorant person
who has no idea as to the suitable food to give a child brought up by
hand.
Thus, at a very early age, an unhealthy condition of the intestine is
set up, and the child's vitality being further lowered by possible bad
ventilation and overcrowding, it easily falls a prey to the disease, should
it swallow the specific organism.
Recent researches have drawn attention to a micro-organism which
is found in the intestine of the horse. These bacteria are deposited in
the streets in enormous numbers, and, when dry, are blown about in the
form of dust, which finds its way into house larders, milk shops, and
restaurants, and contaminates the food exposed therein.
Milk is an excellent breeding ground for bacteria; and this fact may
explain why town infants, who are fed mainly on milk, are so subject
to the disease, which is hardly found in the country, where the road dust
is practically free from horse dung. A hot summer supplies the
temperature which favours the growth and multiplication of the
microbes.