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128
Medical Officers of Health Annual Report.
rection for age and sex distribution, which is 1,068,
giving a further corrected death-rate of 18.09 per 1,000,
the death-rate for the whole Metropolis for the year, also
corrected for age and sex distribution, being 19.4 per
1,000. During the year it is also to be noted that the infantile
mortality was not so excessive as would have been
anticipated owing to the prevalence of measles and whooping
cough, but that the heaviest mortality from these
occurred between 1 and 5 years. The number of deaths
at this age period was, in 1896, 171, while in 1895 the
number of deaths was only 84.
It is thus evident that the causes of the increased
death-rate during the year were causes over which the
sanitary department have little or no control, and that
until some means are devised for the prevention of measles
and whooping cough, it is to be expected that every two
or three years there will be an increased mortality from
these diseases, and a consequent increase of the general
death-rate.
The absence of small pox from the sub-district is also
to be noted, but in view of the increasing number of nonvaccinated
children in ihe sub-district, this immunity
cannot be expected to continue indefinitely.
Sanitation.
A. summary of the sanitary operations during
the year is given in Table XIII. of the general report.
3,948 houses and premises were inspected during
the year, compared with 2,871 in 1895, an increase
of 1,077. The total number of houses inspected in houseto-house
inspection, and entered in the register kept for
that purpose, was 1,985, compared with 2,079 in 1895,
and 2,090 in 1894. There are still some localities in the
parish that have not been inspected during these three