HH62/45/97

Transcription

[Page] 6

come for change of air, or to cases which were so slight as to be completely overlooked
by the parents until, on the occurrence of some more severe case, enquiries were
instituted. One of the chief difficulties in dealing with Scarlet Fever is that,
though assuming in the main a mild type, in these days of improved sanitation, it
has lost none of its power of infection. The Scarlet Fever cases reported were
distributed over the County as follows:-

PERTH DISTRICT, -- 32 cases.
CENTRAL DISTRICT, -- 16 cases.
HIGHLAND DISTRICT, -- 37 cases.
WESTERN DISTRICT, -- 23 cases.
EASTERN DISTRICT, -- 29 cases.

Diphtheria caused 12 deaths. The cases reported during the year amounted to
forty-one, and were distributed as follows:-

PERTH DISTRICT, -- 9
CENTRAL DISTRICT, -- 14
HIGHLAND DISTRICT, -- 1
WESTERN DISTRICT, -- 15
EASTERN DISTRICT, -- 2

The primary source of the disease was, in all cases, traced to insanitary condi-
tions. A number of the secondary cases were due to infection at school. With
improved sanitation it is to be hoped that this, the most deadly of our Infectious
Diseases, will be banished from our midst, but meanwhile parents and guardians
cannot too soon ask for medical advice when children are suffering from throat
trouble, as the disease is of a most insidious and extremely infectious character.
Enteric Fever caused 7 deaths; 26 cases of the disease were reported during the
year. These were distributed as follows:-

PERTH DISTRICT, -- 10
CENTRAL DISTRICT, -- 4
HIGHLAND DISTRICT, -- 1
WESTERN DISTRICT, -- 5
EASTERN DISTRICT, -- 6

In 7 cases the source of infection has been outside of the Districts; in
the remaining 29, insanitary conditions or infection from patients accounted for the
disease. Frequently enquiry has elicited the fact that, in previous years, quite a
series of cases of this fever has occurred in the same houses; doubtless these were
propagated by careless deposit of the infected excreta in the soil of the garden.
Precautions have been taken that such a cause will not account for future cases.
Measles caused 2 deaths. There have been, during the year, three outbreaks of
this disease, of a mild type. Wherever it has occurred, almost the whole susceptible
population has been attacked. One school was closed on account of Measles.
Whooping Cough caused 15 deaths, all of children under five years. The disease
has been very general, but has, on the whole, been of a mild type.
Diarrhoea caused 6 deaths. The low temperature of last year was not favourable
for the development of the factors chiefly concerned in the causation of this disease.
In 92 cases, or 8.4 per cent. of the total deaths, the cause of death was either
uncertified or insufficiently stated. This is an improvement on last year, when 121
deaths had to be included in this list.

[Note] 96

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Appended is a Table of Deaths occurring in the Landward County of Perth
during the ten years previous to my receiving office, with corresponding Death-
Rates:-

[Table inserted]
*Calculations based on the population estimated to the middle of each year.

The Perth, Central, Highland, and Eastern Districts have now arranged with
the Directors of the Perth Royal Infirmary for the reception and treatment of cases
of Infectious Disease, excepting small-pox. This arrangement has been taken advan-
tage of to a considerable extent during the past year, in all 42 cases have been
admitted on the behalf of the District Committees. These cases, without exception,
have made good recoveries, and thus much has been done to break the prejudice
against removal to hospital. Great credit is due to the nursing staff of the Perth
Infirmary for these highly successful results. With the facilities offered by the
Railway Companies for the conveyance of the freighted Ambulance Wagon, it is to
be anticipated that the percentage of removals will be much increased. The Directors
of the Perth Royal Infirmary, after agreeing to take in the cases of Infectious Disease
sent to them by the Local Authorities, immediately took steps to make the equip-
ment of the institution adequate. A new laundry and disinfecting apparatus have
been erected at a large cost, and will soon be in full working-order, and the services
of a fever staff have been secured.
As the accommodation of the Royal Infirmary does not cover the isolation of
Small-pox cases, during the year the necessity of providing for these was brought
under the notice of the Finance Committee, when it was suggested that, in view of
the difficulty of securing a suitable site for the erection of a permanent building for
the purpose, portable hospitals should be procured which could be stored when not
required, and erected on short notice in an infected locality. Matters were under
consideration when a crisis was produced by the occurrence of an outbreak of Small-
pox in the Western District. A small iron hospital was secured. This served its
purpose so well that now the Perth, Central, Western, and Eastern Disticts have
each provided themselves with a portable hospital capable of accommodating four
patients and a nurse. These hospitals have been specially designed to meet the re-
quirements of portability in country districts. None of their parts measures more
than 8 feet, by 4 feet 3 inches, or weighs more than one man can handle. They are
built in sections, each of which is complete, so that the hospital can be made larger
or smaller as required, on very short notice. It is found that the heating and ven-
tilation of these hospitals is very easily managed, whilst the varnished wood with
which they are lined makes disinfection easy. In these buildings the object aimed
at, and very successfully attained, is the utmost stability combined with ease of

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