Births and Deaths
During the year (1922) there were 949 white births and 357 colored live births recorded in the entire county. There were reported in addition to the live births 40 white and 43 colored still births, making a total of 1,389 births.
There were 110 children under one year who died during the year, the report (from the county health department) shows. The infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births is 84.2 per cent or a reduction of 16.8 per cent over 1921. During the past five years there has been reduction in the infant mortality rate of 59.6.
During 1922 there were 635 death certificates filed for registration. Of this number if was found there were 42 white and 11 colored non-resident deaths. Several deaths were due to violence, such as automobile accidents, and are not charged to the county death rate. Probably the two most outstanding features of table of deaths as shown in the report is the number of deaths under 1 year and number od deaths over 60 years of age. Of all deaths 17.2 per cent were children under 1 year, while 26 per cent of the deaths recorded reached 60 years of age or more.
During the past year, according to the report, the department of health handled 823 cases of communicable disease, 576 of which were white cases and 247 colored. Effective work in this line was done by workers during the years. The offering of free vaccination, the program of education and rigid enforcement of quarantine regulations had highly satisfactory results. The year 1922 saw the lowest case and death rate for typhoid fever in the history of the department. Forty-seven cases and one death were reported, a great decrease over previous years. The colored sections of the city showed the largest number of typhoid cases. An even more rigid fight against this disease is being made by the department this year and it is believed that the rate this year will be very low.
Twelve per cent of all deaths occurring in the county during 1922 were due to tuberculosis. It is estimated that there must be 750 cases of the disease in Durham county at the present time. Realizing the gravity of the situation, the health department conducted tuberculosis clinics for several weeks and examined a large number of persons.
Work of other important divisions of the health department is shown in the report. During the year the dental clinic examined 1,703 children’s teeth and did work that would, at regular commercial rate, cost $5,589. More than 6,000 nursing visits to homes were made during the year by county nurses.
From the local front of the Durham Morning Herald, Sunday, May 20, 1923
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