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Summary of Vital Statistics, 1947 : EuMpem Maori Combllled Population, mean .. .. .. 1,696,188 106,449 1,802,637 Birth-rate per 1,000 population .. .. 26-42 46-86 27*63 Death-rate per 1,000 population .. .. 9-38 14-45 9-68 Infant-mortality rate per 1,000 live births .. 25-04 73-18 29-86 Death-rate, tuberculosis, all forms, per 10,000 population .. .. .. .. 3-09 32-88 4-85 This table shows at a glance the main difference between the Europeans and the Maoris in respect of vital statistics. PRINCIPAL CAUSES OF DEATH (Europeans only) The following table gives the main causes of death for the year 1946, and the deathrates therefrom per 10,000 of mean population for that year and the preceding four years. Owing to the difficulty of obtaining detailed statistics so early in the year, no attempt has been made, as in previous years, to supply this information for the year immediately past. The corresponding figures for 1947 will appear in next year's annual report: —

Poliomyelitis.—ln November, 1947, a number of cases occurred in Auckland, and the disease became epidemic in that area in December. By 31st March, 1948, it had spread to most North Island districts, but with only a few cases in the South Island. The epidemic has not yet declined and therefore a full report is not yet possible. The opportunity was taken in Auckland to carry out some field investigations, and in the Appendix will be found a contribution to the epidemiology of poliomyelitis as experienced in that area.

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1946. Cause. 1945: 1944: 1943: 1942: Number. Rate. Bate. Rate. Rate. Rate. Heart-disease (all forms) 5,783 34-86 35-48 33-49 33-68 36-41 Cancer 2,268 13-67 13-88 14-02 13-85 13 • 13 Violence .. • • 871 5-25 4-92 5-37 6-06 5-76 Pneumonia 233 1-40 1-39 1-32 1-41 1-52 Pneumonia (secondary to influenza, whooping56 0-34 0-20 0-31 0-17 0-81 cough, and measles) Bronchitis 153 0-92 1-14 1-14 1-40 1-36 Broncho-pneumonia 328 1-98 1-78 1-82 1-67 2-11 Tuberculosis (all forms) Kidney, or Bright's, disease .. 560 3-38 3-78 3-81 3-72 3-94 451 2-72 2-62 2-80 2-83 3-19 Apoplexy or cerebral haemorrhage 1,597 9-63 10-26 9-28 9-79 9-90 Diseases of the arteries 194 1*17 1-57 1-23 1-22 1-22 Senility 323 1-95 2-90 2-94 3-17 3-02 Diabetes 338 2-04 2-00 2-10 2-16 2-28 Hernia and intestinal obstruction 101 0-61 0-78 0-74 0-65 0-74 Diseases and accidents of childbirth (puerperal 86 0-52 0-52 0-58 0-44 0-55 mortality) Appendicitis 52 0-31 0-38 0-50 0-47 0-44 Diarrhoea and enteritis 73 0-44 0-78 0-64 0-58 0-50 Epilepsy 44 0-27 0-28 0-30 0-46 0-53 Common infectious diseases— Influenza (all forms, including pneumonia) .. 111 0-67 0-33 0-40 0-42 1-61 Diphtheria 49 0-30 0-26 0-19 0-21 0-16 Whooping-cough 1 0-01 0-05 0-29 0-11 0-03 Scarlet fever 1 0-01 0-08 0-17 0-01 0-01 Typhoid and paratyphoid .. 7 0-04 0-02 0-02 0-02 0-05 Measles .. 16 0-10 0-06 0-05 1 0-20