2
A
3
Maternal Mortality
The rate for 1977 was 0.16 per thousand total birtha, compared with 0.18 in the previous year. The main causes of maternal mortality were haemorrhages and abortions.
General Mortality
The crude death rate was 5.2 per thousand population. Figure 2 showa the age and sex apecific death rates in 1977.
The leading causes of death were malignant neoplasms, heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, pneumonia and accidents. The common malignancies were cancers of the lung, liver, stomach and nasopharynx.
III.
COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
(Tablea 21 - 25)
The total number of notifications of communicable diseases during 1977 was 12,087. Tuberculosis comprised 59.3% of the total.
The incidence of major infectious diseases in the past 16 years is shown in Figure 3.
Enteric Fever
The number of cases reported decreased from 500 in 1976 to 389 in 1977. 30% of the cases occurred in young adulte aged 15-24 years. A total of 13 typhoid carriers were detected on investigation.
Bacillary Dysentery
The number of cases alightly decreased from 356 in 1976 to 322 in 1977. 22% of the cases occurred in children under five. A total of 94 carriers were detected on investigation.
Measles
A total of 1,537 notifications with 12 deatha were reported. Measles was at one time very prevalent among children under five. Since the introduction of anti-measles vaccination in 1967 the incidence has been reduced drastically and the pattern of infection is no longer biennial. The monthly notifications in the past 16 years are shown in Figure 4.
Viral Hepatitis
A total of 1,008 cases with 42 deaths were notified, 27% of the cases were in the age group 15-24 years and the male to female ratio vas 2.3 to 1.
Food Poisoning
A total of 213 outbreaks were reported with 555 persons affected. There were no major outbreaks.
Malaria
Practically all 40 cases were imported.
Influenz E
The
There were three minor outbreaks of influenza in 1977. The first outbreak was in April June with the peak incidence in the middle of May - causative agent was A/Victoria/3/75 (H3N2) which has been prevalent in Hong Kong since April 1975. The second outbreak occurred in June August and was caused by influenza B/Hong Kong/5/72 virus. The third outbreak involving mainly children and young adults started in late November and reached its peak in December. The causative agent was influenza A(H1N1) subtype; it was antigenically similar to A/USSR/90/77 virus. The subtype A(H1N1) virus had been prevalent worldwide in the period 1947
Rubella
-
1956.
An outbreak of rubells occurred in the spring of 1977. It commenced in early March and quickly rose to peak incidence in April. Thereafter, it gradually declined in the following three months. The infection affected mainly children and young adults. Preparation is in hand to offer rubells vaccination to young girls and women in the reproductive age group as from September, 1978.
IV. HEALTH SERVICES
(Tables 26 40)
Tuberculosis and Chest Service
There was a further fall in the tuberculosis death rate from 12.8 in 1976 to 11.8 per 100,000 population. The notification rate dropped from 178 per 100,000 population in 1976 to 159 in 1977. Figures 5 and 6 show the mortality and notification rates by age and sex in 1967 and 1977. 3.6% of the