Further report and papers on epidemic influenza, 1889-92 / with an introduction by the Medical Officer of the Local Government Board.

  • Great Britain. Local Government Board.
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Further report and papers on epidemic influenza, 1889-92 / with an introduction by the Medical Officer of the Local Government Board. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    perfect epidemic. Tn West Hartlepool it is stated to have been prevalent On the Influenza and steadily increasing from September 1891 to the end of the year. In fgsg'^go'isDf'anci the Wolsingham division of the Weardale rural district the medical officer I891-92'; by' of health states that two outbreaks of Influenza took place in 1891 : a D''-^'^''^o^- mild one in July, not more than 50 or 60 cases in a population of 3,169 ; and a very severe one of about 700 cases, vphich began on October 18tli and continued to the end of December. This latter })egan simultaneously in several isolated houses, without apparent communication one with another ; but it was found that the people attacked had been three days before to some services at a certain place of worship. Tn the Sedge- field rural district Influenza is reported as prevailing from the end of October to the close of the year, and other Durham distiicts are re- ported as invaded in November. In Maryport, Cumberland, Influenza, which had been prevalent in May and June, but had subsided in July, reappeared in November, having been introduced from Scotland, and quickly became epidemic, continuing so up to February 1892. At Standisli, near Wigan, Influenza^ which had been epidemic earlier in the year, but had subsided in July, was again present in October, but was chiefly confined to children, of whom over 100 were attacked within a few days. In November the disease declined among children, but it attacked adults severely at the end of the year. Another part of the kingdom in wh ich Influenza revived in the and in S.W. autumn of 1891 was that bordering on the Bristol Channel, viz., the solfth^ales. counties of the West of England and South Wales. The medical officer of health for 'Truro states that Influenza was prevalent in the spring of 1891, but much more so in October, November, and December, when a very large per-cenlage of the inhabitants suffered, but few children were attacked. In Bath Influenza is reported as prevalent from October 1891 to February 1892. At Panteg the medical officer of-health reports that the Influenza epidemic broke out in October 1891, when almost every house was afl'ected. The medical oflicer of health for the Nantyglo and Blaina district says that at no time during 1891 was Influenza entirely absent; but the greater number of cases appeared in October and November. Similarly, the medical officer of health for Tredegar, Mr. G. Brown, known as a careful observer, says : At no time since the second re- appearance of Influenza in the end of 1890 has the district been *' entirely free from it, numbers of sporadic cases occurring, sometimes one at a time sometimes several. In October 1891 the disease began to be epidemic, and raged in every part of the place, reaching its highest intensity about the middle of November. It then began to decline, and by Christmas had ceased to be epidemic, though cases have continued to crop up from time to time. At Bridgend Mr. Randall, medical officor of health, says: As in the year before, epidemic Influenza attaclced the neighbourhood in 1891, beginning early in the first quarter and continuing until the summer. We then had a lull until the end of September or beginning of October, when a recrudescence occurred, which lasted, attacking numerous victims, until the end of the year, but which I hope and believe is now dying out at the time of writing, early in the first quarter of 1892. In many places in the West of England Influenza is stated to have become epidemic in November 1891, and to have attained very formidable proportions during that month and in December. E^^amples are Bristol, Taunton, Wellington (Somerset), Newport (Monmouth), and the St. Germans, St. Columb, Dursley, and Pontypool rural districts. Other local recrudescences of Influenza occurred elsewhere in the autumn of 1891. Thus the medical officer of health for the Bourton