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been made in the case of both lists. In the case of the abridged
list while there are still the 36 divisions, separate headings for
post-syphilitic disease (now embodied under syphilitic disease),
liver diseases, senility and ill-defined or unknown causes have been
withdrawn, acute poliomyelitis and encephalitis, cancer of different
sites, prematurity and road traffic accidents now being distinguished.
The altered basis of classification is reflected in the distribution
of the causes to which the deaths are ascribed. While the figure
for heart diseases for 1940 is much the same as that for 1939,
the figure for intracranial vascular diseases rose from 69 to 163.
In the case of the respiratory complaints, while the increase in
the bronchitis figure from 29 to 96 and pneumonia from 91 to
111 may be partially attributable to an increased number of
fatalities from those complaints, to some extent probably it is
statistical. There was a sharp increase in the total number of
deaths, the death-rate per thousand population jumping to over 9,
each sex recording about 150 more than in the previous year.
Most of this increase was amongst those over 55 years of age.
While the maternal mortality rate was low, the infant mortality
rate reached a disappointingly high figure. As for each of the
last three years the figure has been below 40, the rise to 50 is very
marked, and little consolation is to be found in the fact that the
national rate had increased to 55. The notification rates of most
of the infections, e.g., enteric fever, scarlet fever, diphtheria,
erysipelas and cerebro-spinal fever, were lower than those of the
country as a whole, though the rates of 12.16 for measles and
1.53 for whooping cough were slightly in excess of the corresponding
national rates of 10.24 and 1.34.
Further losses to the staff were sustained during the year,
another of the health visitors and another sanitary inspector
being called up. Additional duties came the way of the staff
because of the effect of the war. At the time when it was
anticipated that there would be an influx of people into the district,
referred to later, the health visitors visited a total of some 2,500
houses listed by the wardens to ascertain the willingness of the
occupants and their suitability to take in persons or families.
The sanitary inspectors assisted in the same search for accommodation,
visiting some 70 houses which would, had the need actually
arisen, have afforded accommodation for between 300 and 100
persons. Arrangements had been made for the systematic visiting
of premises at which persons had been billeted by workers under
the supervision of the members of the Women's Voluntary Service.
The main object was to ensure that there should be no missed
cases of persons falling ill of some of those infections with a
long incubation period. The services of the health visitors
were used in this connection too as they further investigated any
doubtful cases met by the Visitors provided by the W.V.S. Once
raiding had actually started additional duties were imposed on