Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1884-11-28
PUBLIC HEALTH GUARDIANS.
The State Board Of Health Meets az tase
Governors Chamber.

The State Board Of Health Meets at'b ase
Governors Chamber.
The state board of health met at the COVER
nor's chamber at the capitol Monday afternoon
There were present Doctors D. W. Hand, St
Paul, president; c. N Hewitt, Red Wing, sec
Rotary; Franklin Staples Winona; Y. Smith,
Duluth E. j. Davis, Mankato, and W. Fl
Leonard, Minneapolis, and Gov. L.. F.
Hubbard. DR.. Hewitt, as secretary, pre-
scented his report Of the work of the board
from Jan. !, 1888, to Aug. 1, 1884, q
period of nineteen months. The report of the
board is ready for the printer and will be pub
lished soon. A perusal of it when it appears
will give an idea of the work done to protect
the people of the state Reports have been re-
ceived at the secretary's office, and the alas o!
the board invoked in thirty two outbreaks OF
diphtheria in twelve different counties. Of
these outbreaks twenty have been confined to
one family by prompt and efficient auaran tine.
In all the outbreaks in which moro than one
family were infected, quarantine was nete e.
tablished until alter the disease had exlBted
for some time, or--as in st. Paul and Minneap-
ELSEWHERE the disease had q variety Of oKgin
Of the outbreak confined to one family, theaver-
age number of cases to the family was FIVE; the
aveage number Of deaths two, and the average
death to total sick, 41.6 per cent More than
ever before seclusion Of the sick Of diptheria
is enforced, and this has been repeatedly done
by the local boards of health in country dis
tricts through their chairman without naedi-
cal aid Very valuable data as to the relation
| of the disease to unsanitary conditions are
given, and also of it's relation to water supply
and sewerage. Many examples are given: of the
frightful mortality. In several outbreaks all
the children (fronl five to seven) Of the, infect
ed family died of the disease Where, isola-
r,hcaih1o tho MORTALITY has
been notably less. n ,,., " $50. i, a.. ~
SMALL pox STATISTICS.
| From JAM /, 1853, to Aug. /, 1884, there has
been reported to the secretary seventeen dis
| tincts and separate, outbreaks Of small pox,
| distributed in seventeen towns OR townships
/ and lumber camps, The statistics Of this dis
ease are as follows:
| whites, 226; Indians, %; of the dead, whites,
| -; Indians, IS; Of the sick belonging to fam
lies, l46; number of fam lies infected -; total
deaths in families, %; per cent of deaths to total
sick, 1872; siclain lumber camps, 50; deaths,
JIG; per cent Of deaths, 30.
A single case. caused the outbreak IN the
| lumber campss above Aiakin in, 1883. In thai
outbreak but eight infected escaped below
Aitkin, five 10 Minneapolis and one each te
Bra1nerd, Dnluth and Morris, where they
Ewere Guaranteed. ,fhe disease was not CIV
| en- to othess, exceptat Minneapolis, where tel
| others ware directly or INDIRECTLY infected
| When the character of the population, the diff
/ ficulty of access and of control ant
the extent of anorgaaized territory i
considered, the success of the mea
sures for the suppression of the outbreal
is regarded as credit to all concerned i
the work. The other important outbreal
was in the town Of Frankfort, Wright county
with few cases in adjacent townships. III
total cases were rs; families infected 23
and deaths, 8 Full credit is given the eff