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deaths which took place was 18, of which 5 were of males and 13
of females. The death rate was 0.07 per 1,000 of the population.
The statistics of whooping cough are given in Table XI.
This table shows that, though the number of deaths which occurred
in any individual year recently was comparatively small, yet the
total adds up to a considerable number of young children who
succumbed to a malady for which there is a possibility that prevention
may be before long a practical proposition. In the last ten
years the number of deaths from this disease was 333. This represents
almost as many deaths as occurred in the corresponding
period from diphtheria and scarlet fever combined.
Table XI. shows that the downward trend of mortality
which is seen in the whooping cough rates for the country as a
whole is reflected in the local rates, though the latter are considerably
higher than the former. In the period under review the local
rates reached their peak in the period 1886-1890, when a rate of
0.77 per 1,000 living was attained. Thereafter a decline took
place, mainly by three steps. The first step occurred between the
period 1886-1890 and the period 1891-1895, and the lower rate
persisted with little change until 1910. During the pre-war and
early war years a further decline took place, and there was again
little change in the new rates until after, 1925. In the most recent
period, beginning in the year 1926, a further notable decline in
the death rate occurred. It is possible that this step-effect has
been accentuated by the periodic years of increased prevalence
and mortality, but on the whole it seems that the figures do bring
out a feature which is real. The rates for the country as a whole
show a corresponding decline of a much more gradual and progressive
nature. The differential rates for the two sexes bring out
the fact that the mortality is slightly greater in females than in
males.
It is possible that the decline in the mortality from whooping
cough is associated with the increasing practice of sending
patients to hospital—especially if they are suffering from certain
complications. This practice is to be highly commended, and it
is a pity that it is not more widely recognised by parents that many
lives could be saved if medical advice were obtained early in the
course of the disease, so that the patient could be admitted to
hospital if necessary.
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