PREVALENCE OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8861, 22 October 1907, Page 4

PREVALENCE OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES.

In another column we publish some statistical information respecting the prevalence of infectious diseases in the Borough during the twelve i months ended September 30th. Al-*> together 55 cases have come under the cognisance of the sanitary officer of the Borough. Of these 31 occurred in the undrained area, and 24 within the drainage area. The narrow difference of cev°n cases of fever between the two areas might in a cursory view of the position lead to the assumption that the matter of drainage did not enter materially into the consideration of the question. But a little reflection wouH dispel that idea. Not only has the actual fact of the numerical difference to be taken into account, but the further fact has to be noted that the undrained area is much less densely populated than that of the central portion of the Borough, in which a sewage system exists. Therefore the proportion of cases of infectious diseases occurring within the suburban,or undrained, district is greatlj increased when population is taken into the reckoning. A point to be noted also is that the infectious diseases that have invaded the drained portion of the Borough have probably had their origin in the undrained localities. As the sanitary officer states, some of the patients suffering from infectious diseases have been treated in their own homes, and, getting about before they had completely recovered, probably spread the contagion to the central portion of the town. The conclusion to be drawn from the facts and figures adduced is that the residents in the suburbs where there is no sewage system are especially liable to outbreaks of fever, and that the undrained areas, therefore become a menace to the whole community.