View report page

17
During the past six years the death-rate per 100,000
inhabitants has been as follows
1906 54
1907 38
1908 65
1909 71
1910 1.7
1911 75
Comparing the decennium 1902-1911 with 1882-1891, there
is an appearance of a decline in the mortality from Measles.
But even this decline is not a true one. The mortality from
Measles is confined almost entirely to the first five years of
life, and as the birth-rate has continuously declined since 1894,
the population of children under five is smaller now than it
was twenty years ago. If the mortality from Measles was
stated in terms of the population under five years of age, it
would be found to be as high, if not slightly higher than it
was in the decennium 1881-1891.
The mortality from Measles is not, moreover, a complete
index of the mischief wrought by it. Measles is a frequent
cause of retarded growth and development and of ill-health; it
often lights up latent tuberculosis; and deafness and defects
of eyesight are in many instances attributable to it.
Unfortunately, the public are not aware of the serious
drain upon life which an outbreak of Measles entails. The
opinion generally prevailing is that a child must get Measles,
and the sooner he gets it the better.
The truth is, that after a certain period, the older the child,
the less susceptible he is to the disease, and even if they
contract the disease, children over five years of age rarely