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Table V., on page 68, gives a complete list of the causes
of death of all children under 1 year of age.
For many years Public Health work in connection with
Infantile Mortality has been chiefly concerned with combating
the death-rate from Diarrhceal diseases, these being usually due
to unsuitable or polluted food, together with insanitary surroundings
in association with hot, dry weather. At the present
time this group of diseases is not the chief cause of Infant
Mortality. What are termed "Wasting Diseases"which includes
Premature Birth, Debility, Congenital Defects, etc., are responsible
for nearly 50 per cent, of Infant deaths. On Table V.,
page 68, it will be seen that during the past year the total
number of Infant Deaths was 334, to this, Diarrhceal diseases
contributed 47, and Wasting diseases 147, and of this latter
number no less than 66 died within seven days of birth, while
103 died within one month.
It is impracticable to remedy this mortality through the
children, these feeble puny infants are practically doomed from
birth. Conditions in the parents must be chiefly responsible
tor this weakly condition and high death-rate in Infants so
young, and to remedy this, Public Health work must be chiefly
directed to the causal conditions in the parents and not to the
children.
The following Table gives the rate of Infant Mortality
and other allied statistics, for each Ward in the Borough for
1909