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35
Of the 30 fatal cases detailed above complete information as to
school attendance was obtained in 26 instances. In one of these F.H.,
the identity of the 1st case in the hosue was doubtful and the age
and sex have, therefore, been omitted. Among the 26 fatal cases
investigated it will be seen that 13, or 50 per cent, received their
infection from children who contracted the disease whilst attending
infant schools, and in three of these, or 11.5 per cent of all cases
investigated, the infection was carried by children under school age.
In the 13 remaining deaths, or 50 per cent of the cases enquired into,
the first case in the family was not attending school.
Diarrhoea. 56 deaths occurred from diarrhoea and epidemic
enteritis as compared with 71, 61 and 151 in the three preceding
years. The death rate from the disease is 1 02 per 1,000 of the
population. Of these deaths 49 occurred in children under 1 year of
age giving an infantile mortality rate for the year from this cause of
25 per 1,000 births, or about 1/5 of the general infantile mortality.
This is a great improvement on the figures for last year, and it is to
be hoped that the work now being carried out, by means of the
Woman Inspector, to mitigate the conditions which give rise to
this very fatal disease, will have the effect of reducing considerably
the mortality from it in the future.
The chart sets out in diagrammatic form the weekly deaths from
diarrhceal diseases during the 3rd quarter of the year.