7

H.—l9b

Sickness. Hospital Admissions.—ln the following tables an attempt has been made to construct a comparative record of the ratio of sickness in the various units and camps. The hospital admis-sion-rate was chosen because it eliminates variations due to unimportant causes.

Return by Quarters showing Weekly Ratio of Admissions to Hospital by Units in Featherston and Trentham Camps for the Year 1917.

Comparative Return by Quarters showing Weekly Ratio of Admissions to Hospitals from Featherston, Tauherenikau, Trentham, Awapuni, and Narrow Neck Camps for the Year 1917.

The hospital admission-rate is low throughout and fairly even, the only unit showing a high rate being the Details at Trentham, which includes men being held back for embarkation from sickness, and therefore naturally a considerable proportion would go to hospital. This brings up the ratio for Trentham somewhat unduly. The lowest average is found in the Artillery and Permanent Staff. This is not surprising, as the Artillery are reported by the .Sanitary Officer to be the unit which pays most attention to cleanliness and sanitation, while the Permanent Staff are in a measure seasoned men. In the second table it will be noticed that in the larger camps there was a slight deterioration in health in the third quarter. This we can attribute to the winter conditions, and to the outbreak of influenza, which visited the camps in September. As regards the camps it is of interest to note that the troops at Tauherenikau show a ratio which was slightly below that of Featherston. This is probably due to the open-air conditions at Tauherenikau checking the sickness-rate. The low admission-rate is very satisfactory, considering that it was wholly a winter camp. The more primitive conditions obtaining at this camp have certainly not acted adversely on the health of the men. The presence of the CI camp at Featherston raised slightly the return during the fourth quarter. The figures for the two smaller camps cannot be regarded as very accurate owing to the small numbers dealt with. A few cases of sickness more or less unduly influence the ratio. Infkctious Diskase. The attached table gives the cases of infectious disease occurring in the men attached to the various camps in 1917, with comparative figures for 1916. Pneumonia has been included owing to the presence of an infective type in 1916.

atio per 1,000 if averagi e strength.) Feathoi rslnn Cai ip (including Tauhei •enikau). Tr intham Camp. Unit. First Quarter. Socond Quarter. Third Fourth Quarter. Quarter. Average Weekly Ratio per Year. First Quarter. Second Quarter. Third Fourth Quarter. Quarter. Averago WeeklyRatio per Year. Infantry Permanent Staff (including A.S.C. andN.Z.M.C.) Details Engineers Mounted Rifles Field Artillery.. Cl Camp 8-0 4-6 11-7 6-0 6-0 4-8 7-0 6-6 6-0 6-4 3-6 2-5 5-0 5-2 3-2 9-1 6-8 5-2 6-2 5-0 6-9 4-8 9-1 8-4 4-4 11-2 2-1 12-8 7-4 12-9 5-8 17-8 8-6 12-8 6-4 15-4 5-4 11-3 4-7 15-3 7-1 6-8 4-7 5-0 4-0 10-4 7-4

,ati per 10 o; avi irage strength.) Camp. First Quarter. Average Weekly Strength. Ratio. Second Quarter. Third Quarter. Fourth Quarter. Average Strength. Weekly Ratio. Average Strength. Weekly Ratio. Average Strength. Weekly Ratio. Average Weekly Ratio per Year. Featherston Tauherenikau 6,315 (Not stated) 3,893 202 231 7-0 4,485 1,800 6-6 4-1 4,704 1,800 9-0 8-8 5,424 1,800 6-1 6-4 7-2 6-4 Trentham Awapuni Narrow Neck 6-3 8-6 14-6 2,946 212 271 9-5 4-7 1-7 2,617 230 246 13-3 8-9 1-7 3,101 261 180 13-0 13-1 2-2 10-5 8-8 5-0 Note.—The averai quarters. ;e strengti i. Feather! iton and 'anheienikau, is ap] iro.ximate for the sei :ond, third, and fourth