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1918
10
Under the age of 18 there were 33 male deaths and 25
female. Between the ages 18 and 50 years there were 37
males and 68 females, and over the age of 50, 11 males and
13 females.
The most fatal age-period was between the ages of 19 and
35 years. In that age-period 52 female deaths occurrred, or
nearly one-half the total female deaths.
The doctors practising in the district very kindly answered
a series of questions which I asked them concerning their
experience of the epidemic, and the opinions expressed here
summarize the experience of almost all the doctors practising
iu the district.
There was no undue incidence of the disease amongst
women except to the extent that there was an abnormal proportion
of females living in the district between the ages of
15 and 45 years. One doctor with a very large practice
stated that amongst his earlier cases 75 per cent, of them were
boys between the ages of 8 and 12 years of age. Taking the
epidemic as a whole there was a concensus of opinion that
very young and old people escaped.
There was a difference of opinion as to the incidence of
the disease amongst the different occupations. Most of the
doctors w£ie of opinion that indoor occupations suffered most
severely, but the police surgeon on the other hand said that
the constabulary suffered more severely in comparison than
those employed in indoor occupations. There was an
unanimous opinion that those who lived in overcrowded and
ill-ventilated houses suffered most severely. At one large
factory in July the munition workers extensively suffered,
and the absentees averaged about 10 per cent, weekly, while
the clerical staff escaped almost entirely, but in the autumn
epidemic the munition workers escaped and seldom did the
absentees number 2 per cent, in a week, but the clerical staff
suffered severely, and over 75 per cent, of them were attacked.
Laundry workers also were particulary liable to attack.
Second attacks were comparatively rare. Most of the
doctors stated that very few of those who were attacked in the