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102
The mortality in the great towns last year was 0.69 per 1,000
inhabitants, while in London it was as high as 0.80; in Brighton
it was 1.03; West Ham, 0.92; Salford, 1.53; Oldham, 1.05; Sunderland,
0.91; Birmingham, 0.75; Liverpool, 0.89; Manchester, 0.73;
Leeds, 0.19. Now the average mortality in London during the last
ten years has been 0.61, and in the large towns collectively 0.63,
and, consequently, the Islington average rate of 0.52 cannot be
considered unsatisfactory.

It will be noticed that the poorer the districts the greater the
mortality rate, and vice versa. This is only what might be
expected, because if ever there was a disease that required care and
attention, and proper nursing, it is Measles, and yet is very much
neglected. The poorer classes, and, for the matter of that, many among
the wealthier classes, treat this disease with contempt, and say: "Oh,
it is only the Measles! It is nothing." But the records of the country
tell a very different tale, for I find that in the decade 1880-1891, in the
large towns, Measles, of all Zymotic diseases except Diarrhoea, which is
another so-called simple disease and is therefore greatly neglected,
caused the highest mortality. It was ten times more fatal than
Small Pox, nearly twice as fatal as Scarlet Fever, three times
more fatal than Diphtheria, and almost three times more fatal
than Typhus Fever, Enteric Fever, and Continued Fever combined.
Whooping Cough, another "simple" disease, caused a death rate less
than that of Measles by a decimal point in the second place, so that its
mortality may be said to be equal to it.