‘Considerable’ Economic Loss From Hepatitis

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32194, 13 January 1970, Page 1

‘Considerable’ Economic Loss From Hepatitis

It was possible that the economic loss to the community caused by infective hepatitis was fairly considerable, the Deputy Medical Officer of Health in Christchurch (Dr D. A. Andrews) said yesterday.

Seventeen cases of the disease—more than those of the preceding two weeks combined—were reported in the Christchurch health district last week.

Dr Andrews, who is preparing a survey on the incidence of the disease, will try to get in touch with aU working patients to determine the time each was off work. The duration of the illness varied considerably and this would make it difficult to assess the amount of working time lost through sickness, he said. When he was in practice Dr Andrews saw eases where almost no time was lost, but others in which the patient was off work -for two or three months. n

“I would just like to know what the economic loss caused by the disease is,” he said. “1 have a feeling it is quite high.” Dr Andrews’ survey will also determine the age group and occupations of those infected, and the areas in which they live. “But I rather doubt that anything much will come of my survey,” he said. “Hepatitis is a common infective disease in New Zealand and it is just interesting to have these figures.” Dr Andrews said the abnormally high number of cases reported in Christchurch last week might be due to a build-up in mail caused by delivery delays during the holiday period, creating a “swag” of notifications.

The spring and summer months of September, October, November, January and February, however, were the worst months for the incidence of the disease.

The highest incidence of hepatitis in Christchurch last week occurred in the Lyttelton Borough and the Paparua County, both of which reported six cases.

In Lyttelton those affected included two women—one in her forties and the other her twenties—and four children. A woman in her forties, a man in his thirties, a girl in her teens, and three children contracted the disease in the Paparua County. Other hepatitis patients were a woman in her thirties in the Mount Herbert County, a man in his thirties in the Waimairi County, a man in his fifties in the Addington district, a child in Linwood, and a man in his forties in the Richmond district One case of pulmonary tuberculosis—a man in his fifties—was reported in the city area, and two children, one in the city and the other in the Waimairi County, contracted salmonellosis. Reports by 11 members of the Canterbury faculty of the Royal College of General Practitioners for December indicated a low level of respiratory infections, although a seasonal—but slight—increase in the number of gastro - intestinal infections and rubella was noted.