Neo-Natal Mortality
The numbers of deaths of children under 4 weeks have been as follows:
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
Number of deaths Mortality rate
1,001 1,463 1,433 1,609 1,819 2,141
32.2 34.4 30.2 29.4 30
31.3
Notifiable Diseases
(a) Enteric Fever:
The incidence of this disease has been steadily rising since 1946,
as the figures below show:
Year
Cases
Deaths
Mortality rate
1946
221
115
50%
1947
246
61
25%
1948
311
69
22.2%
1949
408
89
21.8%
1950
907
160
17.6%
1951
1,024
134
13.1%
In spite of repeated efforts, no focus of infection could be located. It is believed that carriers are the reservoirs of infection and faeces, flies and food are the means of transmission. Data showed that the squatter population had a higher percentage in both incidence and deaths. The disease continued to be fatal to young male adults in particular.
(b) Dysenteries:
Bacillary dysentery showed 47% increase in incidence, amoebiasis a 13% decrease. There were 154 cases of amoebiasis with 9 deaths, giving a case fatality rate of 5.8%, and 371 cases of bacillary dysentery with 28 deaths, giving a case fatality of 7.5%.
As usual the non-Chinese population showed a relatively greater susceptibility than the Chinese population.
(c) Poliomyelitis:
This disease has become more serious in this Colony following the trend throughout the world in recent years. There were 28 cases with 3 deaths, giving a case fatality rate of 10%, as against 16 cases with
3 deaths in 1950. The non-Chinese population appeared to be disproportionately susceptible. No satisfactory explanation can be made on the methods of transmission and why the cases occurred. '
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