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118
Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
males the rate for 1908 was 1.08, compared with 1.19 the decennial
average, a reduction of .11 per 1,000, but among females the
rate was only .57, compared with .8o, a reduction of .23 per 1,000,
or more than double the reduction among males.
Again, from other forms of Tubercular diseases the rate for
1908 was, among males .34, compared with .47, the decennial
average, while among females the rate was .31, compared with
.31, the decennial average, showing that from other forms of
Tubercular diseases the reduction in mortality has been almost
wholly among males.
Among children under five years the rate was .20, compared
with .26, the decennial average, only a slight reduction.
Why the death-rate among females should show this marked
reduction is due in all probability to the fact that housing conditions
have improved, that home infection is less frequent owing
to the removal of cases to hospitals, infirmaries, and sanatoria, and
consequent less personal nursing. The smaller reduction in the
mortality among males is probably due to their greater exposure
to outside infection, to overfatigue, alcoholic excess, and confinement
in badly ventilated offices and workshops.