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Medical Officer's Annual Keport.

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Medical Officer's Annual Keport. INTERESTING STATISTICS. The following is a copy of his annual report presented by the Medical Officer of Health for the Borough (Dr. Abraham Thomas) to the Town Council: on Tuesday:— I now submit for your consideration the annual report of the vital statistics and of the sanitary condition of the district during the year ending the 31st of December, 1904. The general appearance of the town has been greatly improved during the last 10 years, which period has been one of the' great pros- perity to the town. This is partly due to its many natural advantages as a health re- sort, and partly to its importance as a great educational centre. A very large number of modern and substantial houses and villas have been erected within the Borough as well as just beyond its confines. New streets have been built, paved and channelled. Moreover, the leases have been freely taken up and renewed on conditions requiring in the large majority of instances, the total de- molishment of the previous buildings, and in others of considerable structural alterations, depending more or lese on the state of the premises at the time of the application for the renewal of leases. These changes have led to clearance of crowded sites, the disap- pearance of insanitary courts and alleys, the demoliahment of various obstructive build- ings, the widening of certain streets and corners, and the erection of substantial houses, and have given to some districts quite an- other appearance. The general improvement thus effected is further heightened by the carrying out of a complete scheme of paving and channelling of the streets, while those of several courts have also been carried out under the provisions of the Private Streets Act. The completion of the Promenade Extension round the Castle Point, with its pavement and shelters has effected a very great improvement, and has the admiration of visitors and residents alike. On the other hand one effect brought about by the con- tinual building of substantial houses and the catering for visitors, is the fact that there is a great scarcity of houses suitable for the working class, and this scarcity conduces to overcrowding and to paralysing the power of the; sanitary authority. Tlhe Council has since the year 1900 erected 18 houses suitable for workmen's dwellings, and last year com- menced 6 more, which are now nearly ready for occupation, while a dozen more facing this row are in course of erection by builders on leases granted by the Corporation. The Inspection of the Town. I have during the year, in conjunction with, the Inspector of Nuisances, made systematic inspection of various parts. of the town. These inspections included systematic house to house inspection of various portions of the town. Special attention was paid to all the "back to back" houses and to the insanitary areas mentioned in previous reports, such as Trefechan and Penparke. With regard to the "back to back" houses, recommendations were made as to ventilation and lighting of these premises. Three houses in Fountain- court, one in Skinner-street, and one in Sheldon-court were condemned as unfit for human habitation. Overcrowding was found in several instances. As to Penyparke, a number of houses were in a state unfit for habitation, due partly to structural faults. partly to want of ventilation and light; also overcrowding existed in several instances. The results of the above inspections were embodied in one of the reports presented to the Council last year. Action has already been taken to remedy the defects mentioned. Inspection Under the Factories Act, 1901. The total number of Workshops on the register at the end of 1904 was 138. They comprised 21 factories, 21 bakeries, 4 work- shops under the Offensive Trades Act, and 92 workshops or work places. I have visit- ed the majority of these during the year with the Inspector. IJhe total number off inspections including those made at various times by the Inspector amounted to a total of 426. Thirty notices were issued and com- plied with. Nine workshops required lime- washing, in 2 there was overcrowding, while in 7 instances accumulations of rubbish were found in the yards. In three the sanitary conveniences were defective, and in one of these instances a new water closet was pro- vided. Nine bakehouses required lime- washing. There was no instance in which w ork or home work was performed in in- fected premises. In all cases where apprentices were em- ployed the abstract of the Factory and Workshops Act was fixed. The )owners of several workshops where no apprentices were employed applied for the abstracts. There were two underground bakehouses in use during 1904. One of these was not con- sidered in my last annual report as an under- ground bakehouse, but according to the Act as it is three feet below the adjoining road- way at one entrance it has to be considered as such. Certificates of suitability have been granted. There are only three instances where out-workers are employed, and lists have been received and their premises ex- amined and found satisfactory. Common Lodging Houses. The commjom lodging houses were regu- larly visited during the year and continue to be well conducted. The houses were twice limewashed and cleansed throughout. No case of infectious disease was notified during the year from these premises. No change has taken place in the number of houses or lodgers they accommodate, the former being 4 and the latter 63. Meat Market and Slaughter Houses. Periodical visits were paid to the meat market and slaughter houses. No fault was found with the meat offered for sale. As complaints were laid against the manage- ment of the gut scraping premises, I in- spected these premises on several occasions with the Inspector, and failed to find any justification for the accusations. Altera- tions were effected during the year as to the place of the temporary disposal of the offal, and arrangements were made for the daily removal of the offal. The public abattoir was systematically cleansed and lime- washed. The stables in the town have been greatly improved from year to year. Several of the larger stables last year were paved, drained and channelled. The number of cowsheds within the bor- ough is not large. Most of the milk sup- plied to the inhabitants is brought from the rural districts. The registration of these dairymen is not complete, and it is intended to enforce the provisions of the Dairies, Cowsheds and Milk Shops Act in the ensu- ing months. The Drainage. The sewers have been systematically cleansed and flushed. The Surveyor has in- A structions to prepare plans and estimate of cost of converting the open brook and drain which passes at the back of the workmen dwellings between them and the Drill Hall into a proper sewer. The Disposal of the Town Refuse. The scavenging, the collection and disposal of the town refuse has been carried out by the Corporation employees under the di- rection of the Surveyor as in former years. The refuse was deposited on the waste land, between the Cambrian Railways and the river Rheidol. and covered over with soil and lime. This primitive method to be effectual must be well carried out, especi- ally during the summer months. The Water Supply. The town is to be congratulated upon the excellent quality of its water. The source of the supply is a lake 800 feet below the summit of Plynlimmon. The storage cap- acity of the lake is estimated as equal to five months supply. The quantity of water passing into the service reservoir is equiva- lent to a supply of 50 gallons per head for a j population of 8.500. The proposed site of the Isolation Hospital in the neighbourhood of the reservoir may possibly prejudice the 1 value of this valuable asset of the town in the eyes of some people. The Notifiable LifeeWras Diseases. A weekly return of all cases notified dur- ing the year was sent to the Local Govern- ment Boa-rd. The total number notified waa 14, as compared with 28 in 1903, 55 in 1902, 116 in 1901, and 19 in 1900. The fourteen included:—9 cases of scarlet fever, 2 of diphtheria, 2 of enteric, 1 of erysipelas. Two of the 9 scarlet fever cases were in- troduced by visitors, one of the two being a member 01 the Boys' Church Brigade from Staffordshire, and in the absence of an isola- tion hospital the lad was removed at the ex- pense of the Corporation to one of the houses in Greenfield-terrace. Thef other 7 cases occurred in different parts of the town and at various periods during the year. No definite clue could be obtained at to their origin. One of the seven ,a child of four, unfortunately died from the effects of the fever. Three cases of enteric or typhoid fever- were notified during the year, one of these erroneously so. as was subsequently found out. Of the other two, one was introduced by a visitor from the Midlands, while the other was of a very mild type and occurred in a house in Mill-street, where a. similar case was notified in the previous year. The patients made an excellent recovery. Two cases of diphtheria occurred amongst the inmates of one house in Queen's-terrace. A member of this household had been a short time previously at school near Manchester where a fatal case of diphtheria had occur- red previous to the holidays, but no definite proof of contact at school could be obtained Hence the origin of these cases is not per- fectly clear. One of them, unfortunately. ended fatally. The only case of erysipelas notified occur- red in Crynfryn Buildings. The patient, although 70 years of age, made a good re- covery. In the year 1903 small-pox was in- troduced by visitors on two occasions into the borough, but owing to vigilence and prompt isolation, only 3 cases were notified. During last year, although no case of small- I pox was notified, the town was fortunate in escaping the introduction of the disease, as a visitor who spent the August Bank Holi- day week at one of the principal boarding houses on the Marine Parade, waa admitted on the 5th or 6th day after his return from I Aberystwyth, to the Isolation Hospital at his home, suffering from small-pox. This visitor must have been in contact with small- pox previous to his arrival at Aberystwyth. I and the week spent in the town was a por- tion of the incubation period of disease, dur- ing which stage the disease luckily ia not in- fectious. A number of cases of whooping cough occurred during the year, but as this disease is not a notifiable one, I have no means of correctly estimating the extent of the epidemic. Four deaths were attributed to this fever and its complications. Hospital Acoommlodation (for Infectious Diseases. In all my annual reports, as well as on other occasions, I have strongly urged the Council to carry out the Recommendations made by the Local Government Board to the Sanitary Authority as far back as 1893, viz.: To provide sufficient and proper hospi- tal accommodation for infectious diseases. Such hospital provision should include:—(a) A properly equipped laundry; (b) a mortu- ary; (c) a disinfecting apparatus suitable for the efficient disinfection of infected bedding, clothing, etc. The Council agreed in the year 1900 to carry out the recommendations. but has been met with the difficulty of ob- taining a suitable site. The matter was ad- vanced a. stage last year, as the Council, fail- ing other sites, selected as the proposed site for the hospital a piece of land 2t acres in extent, which land is a portion of its own freehold property The Vital Statistics. The number of births registered during year was 192—81 males, 111 females—as compared with 195 in 1903, 176 in 1902, and with 167 the average for the decade. The total 192 is only 3 below the highest total recorded in one year within the borough, viz., 195 registered in 1903, and is equiva- lent to an annual birth rate of 24 per 1,000, as compared with 20.1, the average for the decade ,and with 27.9 the annual birth rate for England and Wales for the year 1904. The number of deaths registered within the borough during the year was 141, as compared with 147 in 1903, 152 in 1902, and with 139 the average for the decade. To the number registered must be added two deaths of 'residents." which occurred at the Union Workhouse, the total deaths therefore amount to 143. In this total of 143 are in- cluded the deaths of 9 visitors. If we sub- tract these 9 deaths the total number for the inhabitants only would be 134, which number is equivalent to an annual death rate of 16.7 per 1,000. But according to the directions of the Local Government Board, visitors (whether invalids or not) who are brought into the town even in a moribund condition and then die in the borough, are for the purpose of these statistics classified as deaths among residents, unless they die in a public institution, such as the Infirmary. when they are termed "non-residents." This method of calculation places health resorts of the size of Aberystwyth at a considerable disadvantage, as there are no Public Insti- tutions or Sanatoria, with the exception of the Infirmary. While during the summer months the population is practically doubled. yet on the other hand the death rates are calculated upon the normal population. The total 143 calculated upon a popu- lation of 8.013, is equivalent to an annual death rate of 17.8 per 1,000 as compared with 16.8 the average for the past decade, and with 16.2. the aver- age rate for England and Wales during the year. In the 76 great towns the average rate was 17.2 per 1,000, while the average for Rural England and Wales was only 15.3 per 1,000. The number of deaths at the different ages was as follows:—Under 1 year, 27; over 1 year and under 5 years, 9; over 5 years and under 15 years, 6 i over 15 years and under 25 years, 10; over 25 years and under65 years, 56; over 65 years 35; total 143. Infant Mortality. The number of infants who died in the borough under one year of age in 1904 was 27, which is equivalent to a rate of 14J deaths per 1,000 registered births, as com- pared with 144 the average for the past de- cade. and with 146 the average for England and Wales in 1904. The principal causes of the infant mortality were 7 premature births (two pairs of twins, as well as one of twins died from premature birth and debility), 2 eases of whooping cough. 2 of diarrhoea, 3 of enteritis, 2 of broncho-pneumonia, 2 of other chest diseases, and 9 of various othe: causes. This death rate among infants, al- though lower than the average for England and Wales, is still higher than it should 1k. in a place like Aberystwyth with its many sanitary advantages, and indicates a lack of proper management and feeding of the infants. Zymotic Diseases. The Zymotic Diseases include small-pox, measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, whooping cough, diarrhoea and "fever," the latter term denoting enteric typhus, simple continued. and other ill-defined forms of fever. There were 8 deaths from zymotic disease during the year, (viz.: 1 from scarlet fever, 1 from diphtheria, 4 from whooping cough, and 2 from diarrhoea). This number is equivalent to an annual zymotic death rate of nearly 1 per 1,000, as compared with 1.94 the zymotic death rate for England and Wales. The total number of deaths from the zymotic diseases during the last 10 years at Aber- ystwyth was 95 (71 being due to measles, whooping cough, and diarrhoea, while scar- let fever, diphtheria. and enteric accounted j for the other 24), and this number is equiva- lent to an annual zymotic death rate of 1.18 per 1,000. Thirteen deaths were attributed to phthisis (consumption). This number ie equivalent to a death rate of 1.6 per 1,000. while 6 deaths were due to other tubercular lesions. The death rate from tubercular affections in a health resort like Aberystwyth ought to be below, and not above the average rate foi England and Wales. The deaths from bron- chitis (11), pneumonia (4), aud other diseases of respiratory organs (5) amounted to a total of 20. Sixteen deaths were attributed to heart disease and heart failure. Ten deaths resulted from cancer and malignant disease. Meteorological Statistics. The meteorological statistics prove that Aberystwyth has a very equable moist cli- mate. This equality of temperature ex- tends practically throughout the year.. There is a very fair amount of sunshine recorded in the winter months, and the winter tem- perature approaches that of the South Coast health resorts. sauuoiiiowaanHHin

County Sciiool Governors.

LLANILAR. SHIRE HORSE SOCIETY.

HUKill

LONDON

[No title]

---ABERYSTWYTH TOWN COUNCIL.