View report page

17
The character of the population is reflected by these rates. Hoe Street
having a large per centage of well-to-do people, with a low birth-rate, has
the most favourable infantile mortality rate. James Street, with a much
less birth-rate than High Street, has yet a considerably larger infant
death-rate, reflecting the poorer character of this ward. The Northern
Ward, with its higher birth-rate, has an equally low infantile death-rate
as Wood Street, and its elevated position and semi-rural character may
account for this, as the social status of the population, if anything, is
better in Wood Street than in the Northern Ward.
The deaths under one year of age form 34 per cent. of the total
deaths at all ages, and 11 per cent. of the registered births.
The following shows in tabular form the numbers and the causes of
death in children under 5 years of age during 1903 :—
Measles 45
Scarlet Fever 3
Influenza 1
Whooping Cough 34
Diphtheria 13
Diarrhoea 25
Zymotic Enteritis 35
Enteritis 20
Septic Disease 1
Tuberculosis of Meninges 16
„ „ Lungs 3
„ Other Forms 16
Cancer 1
Premature Birth 66
Developmental Diseases 90
Meningitis 14
Acute Bronchitis 44
Lobar Pneumonia 18
Lobular „ 48
Diseases of Stomach 13
Obstruction of Intestines 2
Bright's Disease 2
Accident or Negligence 23
All Other Causes 54
Total 587
Thus half the total deaths in the district are in children under
5 years of age, with a known death-rate of 55 per 1,000. 142 of the
587, or a fourth, die in the first year, within a short time of birth, due
to prematurity and constitutional weakness, and 401, or over one-third
of the total deaths, occur in the first year of life. The great influence
of age upon mortality from particular diseases has been ably expressed
by Dr. Farr in his account of the " March of an English Generation
through Life."
He takes and follows the progress of 1,000,000 children born, and
shows of the million some "have been born prematurely; they are
feeble ; they are unfinished ; the baby is helpless; for his food and all
his wants he depends on others."
Of the million born, 149,493, or 14 per cent., die in the first year of
life, and within the first five years 263,182 have died, or over 26 per
cent. of those born.
In your district only 11 per cent. of those born have died during the
first year of life.
B