ENTERIC FEVER CASES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 106, 28 January 1908, Page 9

ENTERIC FEVER CASES.

s ■ . —: ~fy—. WELLINGTON AND N AUCKLAND COM-" PARED. ; (by izi.EoaArn— special coiiresponeent.! Auckland, January 2T. In .a report to the ; Mayor, the District Health Oiliccr compares Wellington. and Auckland, to the .disadvantage of tho latter, in relation to enteric fever. 'He says.:— The Chief Health Officer's report (May 21, 1901) said of Wellington"Previous:to the completion of the' present drainage system enteric ■ fever used to occupy a not insignificant position, both in the hospital records as well as in tho death rate.. At tho present time, even although the house connections aro far from complete, this disease, which is one of the best barometers, so to speak, of the sanitary condition of a community, has in a groat measure disappeared." The chart lioadcd "Wellington," 'which accompanies theso notes, exhibits remarkable manner what tho effect has .boon in the admissions of enteric to the hospital since the completion' of the scheme up to tho year 1902. Of Auckland,'the Chief tLealth Olficer wrote in tho samo report: '"Though this is in somo respects the most'beautiful city in the, Dominion, it occupies an unenviable place. Main sowers empty themselves in tho centre of inhabited areas, and sewage deposits form an odoriferous fringe along its foreshores, and all this in the face of constant and vigorous complaints''both, from the people and from the Press. It is tho same old story. Auckland is trying to be comfortable in a garment which barely fitted her when she was half her present size. As with the water supply, so with the sewage. A complete and satisfactory system ought at once to he undertaken. Never until this is done will enteric fever cease to figure as largely in their hospital and death returns as it does at present." Again in 1002: '!Out of a total of 838 lor the whole. Dominion, Auckland district, as will be seen, is responsible for 182. This is truly a deplorable state of matters. As Dr. Magill points out,.the general death rate from zymotic diseases all over the Dominion is 10.2G per- 1000, while tho rate for Auckland and. suburbs is 30.8." ■ A striking commentary upbii these remarks is found in the returns. of the notifications of enteric cases in Wellington and Auckland respectively, the former a drained, atul tho latter an undrained, area. WELLINGTON AND SUBURBS. 1901-2" ... ... , — 8 •1002-3 ' ■' 24 1903-4 a ... 39 1904-5■ '. 39 1905-6 ... 33 1900-7 24 AUCKLAND AND SUBURBS. 1901-2 ; 109 I!MJ2-:i ' 133 1903-4 / ... 148 11KM-5 87 1905-(i 08 1900-7 ... , 58 Not living infectious diseases \\;as still imperfectly carried out. In these years the populations dealt with were in each case almost identical, and the cases are equal to fi per 10.000 in the case of Wellington, ami 20 per 10,000 for Auckland.