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13
The death-rate is .5 per 1,000 lower than that of 1908,
and 1.3 per 1,000 lower than that of 1907.
There was a decrease in the number of deaths among
infants under 12 months old, and among children between the
ages of 1—5 years. There was an increase in the age periods,
5—15 years, and 15—25 years. Between the ages of 25—65
years, there was one death less than in 1908, and above the
age of 65 years, two deaths more than in the previous year
occured.
The deaths of infants under 12 months are dealt with in a
succeeding paragraph, but almost as important is the agegroup,
1—5 years. It will be observed on Table IV. that the
mortality of children between the ages of 1—5 years is much
lower than that of children under 12 months. The burden of
disease in childhood falls most heavily and disproportionately
upon the first two years of life. In the age-group. 1—5 years,
the largest contributory causes of death are Measles, Pneumonia,
Tuberculous Diseases and Membranous Croup. Measles and
Whooping Cough accounted for 36 per cent of the deaths in
this age-group, and 15 deaths occurred from Pneumonia. It is
not sufficiently recognised how great is the annual mortality
due to these conditions at this age-period, and how little
improved sanitary conditions during recent years have affected
any substantial reduction in them. But it is not the immediate
effects of these diseases that are fatal. They leave behind
them the seeds of future ailments. The diseases which kill
infants affect a still larger number of the survivors, leaving
behind sequelae which so affect the tissues as to create a
favourable ground or nidus for subsequent disease.