Established 1866. The Marlborough Express. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1919. THE HEALTH BILL.

Marlborough Express, Volume LIII, Issue 273, 20 November 1919, Page 4

Established 1866. The Marlborough Express. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1919. THE HEALTH BILL.

At this time last year the Dominion was in the , throes of i.-ie* influenza epidemic, and" the experience was one which nobody desires to go through again. On various occasions since then the opinion has been expressed, by - doctors and others, that a recrudescence or the : scourge, although perhaps in a milder form, was probable this year, but so far, happily, these predictions have not been fulfilled, A close watch has been maintained, on all cases of infectious disease, and although y on this account the number of patients has sometimes seemed rather large, the . Health Department's officers have been able to guard against the undue spread ot infection. We notice, from a bulletin covering, the various hospital districts comprising tho. Wellington Health District-nearly half : the North Island and part of the South—that during the week which ended on the 17th inst. the total number of cases of infectious disease reported was 106, of which 31 were influenza. The Wairau-hospital district reported no infectious disease at all. c°m" pared with the previous week the actual increase in /the number ot influenza cases for the; whole ot tie Wellington public health district the population of which is over 400,000, was 18, and the additional cases of pneumonia numbered 22. Dr M. H Watt, the District jHealth Officer, in' the course of an interview on Tuesday, drew attention to the tact that out of the 31 cases of influenza notified during the week Only three were pneumonic. This was nothing remarkable in a health district the size of Wellington. "The vast majority of the cases are mild, remarked Dr Watt. ,He observed, however, that to prevent any spread of the disease it ..w,as absolutely essential that the advice regarding precautions that had. been given from time to time should be followed. "Influenza is a notifiable, disease, and the obligation isvOn the medical attendant, and on the householder in the absence of a medical attendant, to report all cases." ~,-Dr Watt added that there were no signs of a. widespread epidemic of influenza, and on the evidence before ~it the Department did^not anticipate a recrudescence of the outbreak of last year. Regarding the increase of 22 m the number of pneumonia notifications compared with the previous week, Dr Watt observed that no special comment was called for, as the total for the week ending November 10 (4) was much below the normal figure. As a matter of fact, no true deductions could be. drawn from weekly comparisons of public health statistics, for the. figures oscillated to such an, extent. "We have the whole position,. well in hand, concluded the doctor—an assurance which will be everywhere received with the utmost satisfaction.