[Report 1912] / Medical Officer of Health, Newcastle-upon-Tyne City & County.

  • Newcastle upon Tyne (England). City & County Council.
Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1912] / Medical Officer of Health, Newcastle-upon-Tyne City & County. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Improved methods of diagnosis account for the recogni¬ tion of large numbers of slightly affected cases pre¬ viously undetectable, but even allowing for this, the disease is more prevalent than ever before. Fortunately the fatality is little more than one sixth of what it was at one time. As in all periods of prevalence of in¬ fectious diseases of mild type, a considerable proportion of patients suffer from two or more affections concur¬ rently, no less than 11*4 per cent, of all the cases at the City Hospital being found to be so affected on admission. An oiitbreak of Measles occurred in the latter months of the year, involving many deaths ; the epidemic was the most severe since 1906. This disease is the one for which no really effective means of control has yet been discovered. In Newcastle the measures adopted are those recommended by the Medical Officers of the Local Government Board and Board of Education, these being the best available. As mentioned above. Infantile DianrhcBa was practically absent owing to the cold weather experienced throughout the summer and autumn. Enteric Fever, while showing an increase upon the previous year of four cases, continues to be of low incidence. Steady progress is being made with the conversion of dry closets to the water-carriage system. It is noteworthy that during 1912 enteric fever occurred just three times as frequently in houses having dry closets as in those with water closets. Epidemic Cerebro¬ spinal Meningitis was reported in three cases only, and Acute Poliomyelitis, which became compulsorily