View report page

36
Age-Group Incidence of Sickness.
Considering first the incidence of disease as it
affects the whole Parish, the rates for the age-groups
0-1, 1-5, and 25-65 were higher for males than for
females. The same is observed in the rates for
the extended age-groups 0-5 and "all ages." Of the
diseases mentioned in the Table, the incidence of
Diphtheria was greater among females than males in
all the age-groups except that of 0-1. By reason of
the great excess of females at ages exceeding 25 years,
at which ages Diphtheria is somewhat uncommon,
this predisposition to Diphtheria among females is
marked in the "all ages" group. The incidence of
Scarlet Fever was greater among males than among
females at the ages under 15, i.e., at those ages when
the disease is commonest. At the ages over 15 both
sexes were affected nearly equally. In the extended
age-group "5 years and upwards," the incidence was
equal. Males, at all ages of life, were more prone to
be attacked by Enteric Fever than were females.
In comparing the rates for the two Sub-Districts,
some caution must be exercised in drawing conclusions,
owing to the small numbers of some of the
diseases notified. For that reason, only the figures of the
three extended age-groups, 0-5, 5 and upwards and 'all
ages,' will be referred to on the present occasion.
The rates (for all diseases) prevailing last year
among children under five years of age were, in the
District of St. Mary, 25.7 for males and 22.6 for