Report of the Medical Officer of Health / Municipality of Colombo.

  • Colombo (Sri Lanka). Public Health Department.
Date:
[1910]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Medical Officer of Health / Municipality of Colombo. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    10/46 (page 46)
    (d) Table XIII. shows the incidence of infant mortality at various age periods. Table XIII.—Infant Mortality, 1910, Deaths at different Age Periods and from several Causes. Age Race. Cause of Death. Age in Weeks. Age in Months. m d c3 QJ OQ N 03 03 w 03 0Q 03 O 1 2 3 4 5 o H 2 3 4 5 6 6-9 9-12 Total. O S3 H bJO B ci ,d .2 55 Tamil; Moors >i a U* <33 XJ O oi < I.—Developmental diseases :— (1) Premature birth 53 8 1 1 63 1 1 1 i 50 4 6 i i 64 (2) Atalectasis 5 — — — 5 — — — 1 — — — 1 _ _ 1 2 2 _ i 6 (3) Atrophy and debility 114 16 12 21 163 20 14 7 8 10 8 14 81 1 10 104 55 58 9 7 244 (4) Others 5 — — — 5 2 — — — 1 1 1 5 — 7 2 — 1 — 10 II.—Diseases of respiratory system :— 1) Laryngitis .. 1 1 1 1 (2) Croup (3) Bronchitis .. 1 — 1 7 9 11 15 8 7 12 13 13 79 2 2 44 20 18 1 1 88 (4) Pneumonia 4 1 1 5 11 18 11 6 13 21 22 31 122 16 70 19 24 2 2 13a (5) Others — — — — — — — 1 — — — 1 2 — 2 _ — — — 2 III.—Diseases of digestive system:— (1) Diarrhoea! .. 2 4 6 12 25 24 9 19 17 29 17 140 3 16 85 15 25 • 6 2 152 (2) Dentition .. — — — — — — — — — 1 — — 1 1 — — — — — 1 (3) Others 4 2 4 10 20 14 12 8 8 4 5 6 57 — 4 48 12 8 3 2 77 IV.—Diseases of nervous systemi (1) Convulsions » .. 117 40 27 38 222 57 27 24 8 13 24 21 174 3 17 182 83 88 15 8 396 (2) Laryngismus stridulus (3) Tetanus 99 43 7 — 149 1 1 — 3 61 34 45 4 3 150 (4) Others 1 V.—Tuberculous diseases :— (1) Tabes messenterica _ _ _ ___ _ _ __ 1 _ 1 1 _ 1 (2) Tubercular meningitis — — — — — — 1 — — — 1 2 4 1 — 3 — — — — 4 (3) Others 1 — 2 1 7 4 15 — 1 3 5 5 1 — 15 VI.—Accidents :— (1) Injury (2) Umbilical haemorrhage 1 1 1 1 (3) Suffocation (4) Other violence 1 1 1 1 VII.—Infectious diseases :— (1) Smallpox .. (2) Chickenpox (3) Measles (4) Whooping cough — — — — — — — — — — 1 — 1 — 1 — — — — — 1 (5) Mumps (6) Diphtheria.. (7) Cerebro-spinal fever (8) Scarlet fever VIII.—Syphilis — — — 2 2 5 3 1 — 2 — — 11 — 1 11 — 1 — — 13 IX.—All other causes .. 1 1 1 8 11 5 6 4 3 4 16 10 48 — 6 33 9 7 3 1 59 Total .. 404 113 59 98 674 160 114 68 69 86 129 120 746 12 80 706 261 287 46 28 1420 Percentage of Total Infant Deaths 28-4 7-9 4-2 6-9 47-4 a 8-0 4-8 4-9 6-1 9-1 8-4 52-6 — — 8. Mortality from Groups of Diseases.—(a) Major Groups of Diseases. This is shown in the following tables, from which it will be seen that except in the dietetic, the local diseases, and violence groups, which show a slight increase, all the other great groups show a decrease in the number of deaths compared with the average, the most marked decrease being in the case of the Zymotic Diseases Group:— Table XIV.—Mortality in the Town of Colombo, from Groups of Diseases, 1909 and 1910, and the Average for 1900 to 1909, All Races, All Ages. Total Deaths. Mortality per 1,000 Population. Cause of Deaths. Average, 1900 to 1909. 1910. Average, 1900 to 1909. 1910. Increase or All causes 1909. 5,821 .. 6,169 .. 5,750 1909. .. 34-50 .. 33-54 .. 29-66 Decrease. .. —4-84 Zymotic diseases 1,603 .. 1,226 993 .. 9-56 .. 6-67 .. 5-12 . . —4-44 Parasitic diseases 196 261 213 .. 1-15 .. 1-42 .. 1-10 .. —0-05 Dietetic diseases 23 51 63 .. 0-13 .. 0-28 .. 0-32 .. +0-19 Constitutional diseases 754 938 790 .. 4-45 .. 5-10 .. 4-08 .. —0-37 Developmental diseases 355 372 372 .. 2-11 .-. 2-02 .. 1-92 . . — 0-19 Local diseases 2,300 .. 2,778 .. 2,747 .. 13-60 .. 15-11 .. 14-17 .. + 0-57 Violence 101 113 129 .. 0-60 .. 0-60 .. 0-66 .. + 0-06 Ill-defined diseases 489 430 443 .. 2-90 .. 2-34 .. 2-29 .. —0-61 The 1910 rates are reckoned on a population which includes the Eastward extension. (b) Minor Groups of Diseases.—The various causes to which deaths are ascribed are classified in Table LXIV. in the Appendix. Of these, the great majority are responsible, as a rule, for only a few deaths each year, whereas a select few are responsible year after year for a great proportion of the total mortality. These “ Principal Causes” have been classified into three groups, viz. : (1) the “ Pulmonary Group,” including phthisis, bronchitis, and pneumonia; (2) the “ Diarrhoeal Group” including diarrhoea, enteritis, and dysentery ; and (3) the “ Fever Group ” including typhoid or enteric fever, simple continued fever, remittent fever, and intermittent fever. The mortality ascribed to each of these groups since 1900 is shown in the Table below, from which it will be seen that there was a decreased mortality from each of them in 1910, compared with the average^ Further details of these groups are given under their respective headings.