[Report 1942] / Medical Officer of Health, Durham R.D.C.

  • Durham (England : County). Rural District Council.
Date:
1942
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1942] / Medical Officer of Health, Durham R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    DURHAM RURAL DISTRICT COUNCIL. % Health Department, Byland Lodge, Durham* To the Chairman & Members of the Durham Rural District Council. Ladies and Gentlemen, Annual Report for 1942. In accordance with the instructions of the Ministry of Health this Annual Report is to be a summary report and deals with the most essential matters for the year 1942. VITAL STATISTICS: Statistics indicate that the health of the Durham Rural District was maintained at a satisfactory level during the year 1942. The death-rate was 10.9 per 1,000 of the population as against 12.02 for the preceding year. This is the lowest death- rate recorded for the District, the previous lowest being for the year 1928 when this rate was 11.28. There was an increase in.the birth-rate which was 19 per 1,000 inhabitants compared with 17.3 for the preceding year. This is the highest birth- rate on record for the District since the year 1930 when it was 20.29. The most satisfactory rate for the year was the infant mortality rate of 42 per 1,000 live births, a welcome improvement on the rates of 73, 64 and 68 for the three previous years. This is a record low infant mortality rate for the District, the previous lowest being 60 in the year 1938. It compares favourably for the first time with the rate for England and Wales as a whole, which is 49. V INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Scarlet Fever 69 Diphtheria . 44 Paratyphoid Fever . 1 Measles 163 Whooping Cough 13 Erysipelas '. .-. * 5 Pneumonia . 17 Puerperal Pyrexia 1 Pulmonary Tuberculosis 15 Non-pulmonary Tuberculosis 18 During the year cases of Scarlet Fever occurred in all parts of the District and the incidence has not been heavy. This infection continues of a mild clinical type and no deaths resulted. There was an increase in.the number of cases of Diphtheria during the year, 44 cases being notified as against 25 in the previous year. No locality was specially affected and the cases occurred uniformly throughout the year. Many cases of a severe type were encountered and 3 deaths occurred from this, .cause. The campaign for immunisation was maintained during the year and in the last quarter it was intensified throughout the schools. The co-operation of the Health Visitors in this effort has proved very effective. During the year 474 children under .5 years of age were immunised resulting in 36.7$ of this part of the child population being protected against Diphtheria at the end of the year. Of the age group between 5 years and 15 years 1,047 children were immunised, 64.75$ of this group being protected at the end of the year.