Tuberculosis in the United States : Prepared for the International Congress on Tuberculosis, Washington, September 21 to October 12, 1908. Department of Commerce and Labor.

  • United States. Bureau of the Census.
Date:
[1908]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Tuberculosis in the United States : Prepared for the International Congress on Tuberculosis, Washington, September 21 to October 12, 1908. Department of Commerce and Labor. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

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    higher than that of the white population from this disease, as indi- cated by Table 9 (page 60), and also by the subjoined table from Mortahty Statistics, 1907: NUMHER OF DEATFTS FROM TUBERCULOSIS OF LUNGS PER 100,000 OF population: 1907. White. Colored. Maryland, rural.. Washington, D. C Louisville, Ky New Orleans, La. Baltimore, Md Kansas City, Mo.. Memphis, Tenn... 106. r> 153. 6 161.0 231.6 182.2 129.3 118.3 2.30. 2 448.0 328. 1 498.0 498.2 679.8 249.7 The rates given above indicate that the negro death rate fi'om tuberculosis of the lungs is markedly higher than ,,. , ,. , , , . . . °, High mortahty of the the white death rate, not only m cities but also colored race from tubercu- in rural districts, of which Maryland affords the ^°^'^' only example. It is probable, moreover, that the registration of deaths is somewhat incomplete in rural Maryland; it is known to be practically worthless in certain counties of that state, while in all of them the registration of the deaths of negroes is probably not so thorough as the registration of the deaths of white persons. Hence a higher mortality from pulmonary tuberculosis may fairly be assumed for all of the negro population than that for the corresponding white population. There were in the registration area as constituted in the census year 1900 only 1,180,546 negroes, or 4.1 per cent of the total population. Subtracting these from the 8,833,994 negroes in con- tinental United States in 1900, we have 7,653,448 negroes in the non- registration area in 1900. No notable addition of negro population has been made to the registration area since that date, except Maryland exclusive of Baltimore, Annapolis, and Frederick, representing a net increase of 131,862 negro population as enumerated in 1900. The death rate of the total white and colored population of the registration area from tuberculosis of the lungs was 158.9 per 100,000 for the year 1907. If we subtract this rate from the rate shown for the colored inhabitants of the mral part of Maryland (230.2 per 100,000), and apply the difference (71.3 per 100,000) to the negroes of the nonregis- tration area enumerated in 1900, we shall find a probable increase of about 5,500 deaths a year from pulmonary tuberculosis alone. Con- sidering the imperfect registration of deaths in rural Maiyland, the additional deaths from other forms of tuberculosis, and the increase of the negro population since 1900, perhaps from 10,000 to 15,000 more deaths of colored persons from all forms of tuberculosis would