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56
SECTION IV.—CAUSES OF SICKNESS.
Specify any muses of sickness and invalidity which have been
specially noteworthy in the district during the year. (This should
include information obtained from local general practitioners).
There was a small epidemic of influenza at the beginning
of the year, 86 cases of acute influenzal pneumonia being
notified in January and 31 in February; 56 deaths were
certified to be due to influenza in the first quarter of the year,
compared with 12 and 9 respectively in the same quarter in
the previous two years.
It would appear from enquiries I have made among general
practitioners that there has been an increase in the number
of skin diseases during the year, and it is suggested that the
cause of this is due to defective nutrition associated with
the long spells of unemployment which unfortunately has
been present in the district during the past years. Since
March, however, I think it is clear that the total sickness
in the district has been below the average for many years.
In this connection one practitioner says that there has been
a marked improvement in the physique of young persons
employed in local factories and workshops, especially in
those factories which make an effort to maintain the health
of their employees by means of their Welfare organisations.