HH62/1/AYR/37

Transcription

[Page] 36

there are several populous places, 17 per 1000 might be permissible,
while anything beyond these figures, at least over a series of years,
would indicate that the sanitation of the district was not satisfactory.
An increase, as compared with former years, in the diseases of the
respiratory organs strongly points to influenza as a potent factor in
augmenting the mortality during this year. As will be seen from
Table II., the parishes of Dalry, Beith, Kilbirnie, Dreghorn, and
West Kilbride are above the average, while the remaining seven parishes
in the district are below this rate. The comparatively high death-rate
of Dalry is chiefly due to a very large mortality from tubercular and
respiratory diseases. In some other respects the statistics of Dalry
are favourable. In referring to Table I., it will be noticed that a
large proportion of the deaths in Dalry was of persons over 60 years
of age, which explains chiefly the cause of the high mortality from
respiratory diseases, but this does not throw any light on the high
death-rate from phthisis and other tubercular diseases, the investiga -
tion of which must be left over for a future time. Measles and
whooping cough, as well as a large mortality from phthisis, partly
account for the high death-rate (20.2) in Beith.
Infantile Death-rate. - This is the death-rate of children under 1
year of age per 1000 registered births. For a healthy country dis-
trict 100 may be considered a fair average. The whole district shows
111. It is a very delicate barometer of sanitary conditions, being as
a rule always high where there is density of the population, and
low, with ordinary sanitary conditions, in sparsely peopled places. It
will be noticed from Table II. that Dreghorn stands at the summit
in infant mortality, followed by Stevenston and Kilbirnie, while the
four parishes with small populations show a very low infantile death-
rate. As the landward part of the parish of Largs appears higher in
this respect than might be expected, I examined the registers for the
localities where the deaths occurred, and found that exactly 50 per
cent. of the infantile deaths took place in a single block of tenements,
the sanitary condition of which was found to be bad, but has now been
improved. With this explanation, the statistics of the parish of
Largs will compare favourably with any parish in Scotland.
Zymotic Death-rate. - The total zymotic death-rate (2.18) is a
fair average of what generally prevails. It is highest in the parishes
of Kilbirnie, Dreghorn, and Kilwinning - three parishes in which the
water supply was not above suspicion, and to which the high death-
rate in each of these parishes from enteric fever and diarrhoea forms
a fitting corollary. Leaving typhus out of account for the pre-
sent, the zymotics that may be considered as intimately related to
unhygienic conditions are enteric fever and diarrhoea, to which, with
some reservation, diphtheria may be added. Taking these in their
order, enteric fever is above the average in the parishes of Kilbirnie,
Kilwinning, and Dreghorn; diarrhoea in Stevenston, Kilwinning,
Dreghorn, and Kilbirnie; while Dalry, Dreghorn, the four smaller
parishes, and Beith have diphtheria above the average.

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Septic Diseases Death-rate. - There is nothing of any special im-
portance connected with this group of diseases (puerperal fever,
erysipelas, &c.)
Tubercular Death-rate. - We find that the death-rate from this
group of diseases is somewhat higher in this district than in any of
the other three divisions of the county. Dalry, Beith, and Kilbirnie
parishes are the highest in this respect. The factories in these
parishes may partly account for the large mortality, for we find a
good number of the victims are mill girls. This matter requires
careful investigation, so we shall not discuss the cause or causes in
the meantime.
In regard to the other groups of diseases there is nothing indi-
cated by their death-rates which calls for any special remarks.