35

H.—3l.

Infant- mortality. As regards infants under one year, Wellington does not show up in so satisfactory a light, the mortality having risen to 1001—above what it was in 1903 or 1904—while compared with the other four centres it is above the mean. Table lll.—lnfant Mortality (to every 100 Births). Wellington Wellington Mean in * City. ami Suburbs. Four Centres. 1901 .. .. .. .. .. 1043 10-30 9-68 1902 .. .. .. .. .. 12-97 1302 1208 1903 .. .. .. .. .. 9-28 927 9-61 1904 .. .. .. .. .. 9-55 9-53 894 1905 .. .. .. .. .. 1001 9-62 8-66 Mean average for five years .. 10-44 10-34 9-79 Taking the percentage of deaths under five years to total deaths, we have a percentage of 33-39 for Wellington, as against an average of 27-07 for the four centres. In one-third of the infant-deaths the cause is shown to be from dietetic troubles leading to such complaints as marasmus, diarrhoea, enteritis, and so on. There is no doubt but that the unduly high rate as compared to other centres can in a great measure be attributed to the very defective quality of the milk-supply in Wellington. Zymotic Death-rate. During 1905 the zymotic death-rate was extremely low, only 34 deaths in all being recorded, while the mean during the past five years was 61, as the following table shows : — Table IV. Deaths in Total of Wellington Four w^il" and Suburbs. Centres. p er Cen" 901 .. .. .. .. •• ..46 209 22 1902 .. .. .. .. . ..108 356 30 1903 .. .. .. .. •• ..52 256 20 1904 .. .. .. .. ■• ..65 202 32 1905 34 115 29 Mean for five years .. .. 61 227 26 The death-rate from this class of disease throughout the colony was very low during 1905, and Wellington, though the number was small, bore a slightly higher proportion than usual. As regards diphtheria, scarlet fever, and diarrhoea, the proportion in Wellington was higher than in other centres. However, the total number dying from each of these diseases was too small to call for much comment, while the drop in deaths from diarrhceal complaints from 30 in 1904 to 12 in 1905 is very satisfactory, though the somewhat cold, wet year no doubt is in a great measure the reason for this falling-ofi. The causes of the deaths from zymotic disease are shown as follows : — Table V. Diarrheal. —Twelve in city and suburbs, total in four centres being 44 (27 per cent.). Eleven deaths out of the 12 occurred in children under five years. Last year there were 30 deaths under this heading. For strict accuracy, to these figures should be added 33 deaths from gastritis and enteritis, all being in children under five years of age. Measles. —No deaths, as against 4 in 1904. Diphtheria. —Four deaths, as against Bin the four centres. There were 56 cases of diphtheria in Wellington and suburbs, case death-rate being 7 - 14. Last year this disease caused 5 deaths. Influenza. —Three, against 13 deaths in four centres. In 1904 there were 5 deaths. Typhoid. —Three, against 10 deaths in four centres, case death-rate being s'BB. In 1904 there were 4 deaths from typhoid. Scarlet Fever. —Three, against 5 deaths in four centres, case death-rate being 254. Whooping-cough. —No deaths ; nor were there any in 1904. As regards deaths from diseases other than zymotic, the only point worth noting is the drop in deaths from tubercular disease in Wellington from 68 in 1904, to 42 in 1906. Cancer, on the other hand, has slightly increased, being 47 this year against 44 the year before. The extremely low case-mortality rates in diphtheria, typhoid, and more especially scarlet fever, are worthy of note. Notifications of Infectious Disease. The following table shows the returns of infectious cases in the various centres in the Wellington District: —