H—3l

Table 26—The Ratio of Deaths to Registered Cases at 31st December, 1946-48 1946. 1947. 1948. Non-Maori . . .. 1/12 1/14 1/15 Maori .. .. .. 1/6-5 1/7 1/9-3 Combined races .. .. 1/10 1/11-2 1/13-3 The improved position in this ratio as noticed last year was maintained in 1948. Undoubtedly intense .efforts in case-finding have brought to light relatively more cases in an early stage of the disease and these have responded to treatment and not terminated fatally. The returns for 1944-48, as obtained from the notifications from general practitioners, hospital clinics, and the Department's case-finding scheme, disclose the known position each year as at 31st December as under

Table 27 —Morbidity

The increase in the morbidity in both Islands over the previous five years in the pulmonary forms is held to be due more to continued efforts in case-finding rather than, to any actual increase in the incidence of infection, and to increasing expectation of life of previously notified cases. While the known cases may increase from year to year and the incidence may show a rise, this should not cause undue alarm. It is suspected that there are still many untraced cases which will eventually be found as the result of extended case-finding surveys in the general population. New Cases (actual or suspected) notified during 1948, with comparable 1947 figures in parentheses, number : Maori, 466 (481) ; European, 1,618 (1,693) : .total, 2,084 (2,174). Of this total, pulmonary cases numbered 1,760 (1,809) : Europeans, 1,356 (1,397) ; Maoris, 4-04 (412); and non-pulmonary 324 (365) : Europeans, 262 (296) ; Maoris, 62 (69). The total new cases notified as tuberculosis to Medical Officers of Health show a steady decline from 2,254 in 1944 to 2,084 in 1948. The known incidence rates for all forms of tuberculosis registered (1947 figures in parentheses) are : Europeans, 4-32 (4-36) per 1,000 ; Maoris, 23-53 (23-31) per 1,000 ; and combined races, 5-46 (5-47) per 1,000. The European incidence shows a slight decline over the previous year, the Maori incidence a slight rise, and the incidence of combined races a decline of 0-01 per 1,000. Of the 9,997 cases on the register at 31st December, 1948, 3,326 were returned as being in the " active," " infectious," or " potentially infectious " state. This represents 33 per cent, of the registered cases, a slight reduction on the previous year.

48

North Island. South Island. New Zealand Total. Year. Pulmonary. Nonpulmonary. Totals. Pulmonary. Nonpulmonary. Totals. 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 5,083 6,116 6,356 6,196 6,482 507 546 531 673 505 5,545 6,662 6,887 6,869 6,987 1,722 2,055 2,315 2,479 2,554 259 360 415 473 456 1,981 2,415 2,730 2,952 3,010 7,526 9,077 9,617 9,821 9,997* *This total includes Maoris, 2,560 ; non-Maoris, 7,437.