A History of Epidemics in Britain, Volume 2 (of 2) / From the Extinction of Plague to the Present Time

by Charles Creighton

Mortality from Diarrhoeal diseases per million living at the age-periods.

		All ages		0-5		5-10
1851-60		1080		5263		229
1861-70		1076		5985		160
1871-80		935		5728		69

Three-fourths of the deaths are of infants in their first year. The middle period of life is comparatively free from this cause of death, but at fifty-five the ratio begins to rise again, and at seventy-five and upwards is almost as high, among the comparatively small number living in extreme age, as it was in infancy. Male infants die of it in excess of females, according to a very general rule of sex mortality. It is also according to rule that the ratio of female deaths approximates to that of males in middle life and old age.

The deaths from infantile diarrhoea fall in great excess upon the towns, and most of all upon the manufacturing towns and certain seaports. London, which almost certainly had a great pre-eminence in the 18th century in the matter of infantile deaths by summer diarrhoea, has lost it to a number of provincial towns, of which the following is a list in the order of the percentage ratios of their diarrhoeal death-rate per 1000 living under five years to their death-rates from all causes under five years (Decennial Period, 1871-80):

Percentages of Diarrhoeal death-rate in the death-rates from all causes under five years.

	Yarmouth		19·4
	Leicester		19·2
	Preston		16
	Worcester		16
{	Sculcoates		16
	Hull		14
	Northampton		15
	Coventry		15
	Goole		14
	Leeds		13·7
	Birmingham		13·5
	Manchester		13
	Salford		13
	Norwich		13
	Wigan		12·7
	Hartlepool		12·5
	Nottingham		12·4
	Sheffield		12
	Hunslet		12
	Bolton		11·6
	Holbeck		11·6
	Stoke-on-Trent		11·3
	Stockport		11·2
	Liverpool		11
	Blackburn		10
	London, St Giles’s		10
	London, Whitechapel		9·6

The reasons for placing the towns in the above order will be found in the Table that follows, the significance of which will be pointed out after some other matters have been disposed of. Meanwhile it may be said that all these have diarrhoeal death-rates under five years greatly in excess of all England and of all London.

Table of English Towns with highest death-rates from Infantile Diarrhoea.

			Death-rate from all causes under five per 1000 living at the age-period		Death-rate from diarrhoea under five per 1000 living at the age-period		Deaths of infants under one to 1000 births		Birth-rate per 1000		Death-rate per 1000
	Liverpool		119·29		14·13		217		35·08		33·57
	Manchester
	(1871-73 incl. Prestwick)		103·82		18·84		207		38·97		31·46
	Manchester (1874-80)		103·52		11·23		190		40·78		32·16
	Preston		97·85		15·61		212		37·86		28·05
	Salford		95·96		12·44		184		42·39		27·65
	London, Whitechapel		95·83		19·24		181		36·42		33·03
	Holbeck		94·00		10·93		196		42·63		26·64
	London, St Giles’s		92·69		9·42		176		34·05		23·42
	Leicester		92·52		17·81		214		41·44		24·46
	Sheffield		91·22		10·96		183		42·50		27·41
	Blackburn		90·33		9·02		191		39·30		25·29
	Hunslet		88·35		10·75		192		44·52		25·49
	Leeds		87·47		12·02		188		39·33		26·04
	Wigan		87·28		11·13		172		45·70		25·77
	Stoke-on-Trent		86·76		9·91		189		43·29		25·80
	Birmingham		86·10		11·78		179		39·89		25·82
	Stockport		80·33		9·05		182		35·79		24·73
	Nottingham		79·30		9·86		184		32·58		22·55
	Bolton		78·54		9·13		167		39·20		24·34
	Yarmouth		75·37		14·38		199		32·45		22·94
	Hartlepool		75·26		9·43		166		43·36		22·49
{	Hull		77·89		11·02		178		37·88		24·52
	Sculcoates		71·53		11·64		170		39·46		21·66
	Norwich		72·29		9·78		188		32·86		23·32
	Northampton		71·41		10·85		173		37·48		22·65
	Worcester		68·24		11·10		176		32·00		22·13
	Coventry		68·09		10·06		164		35·17		21·59
	Goole		64·58		9·20		166		36·47		21·39