NUMBER OF DEATHS AND MONTHLY RATE PER 1,000 POPULATION, IN EACH OF THE LARGEST THIRTY-SEVEN CITIES IN OHIO, FOR NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, 1917. The 11,379 patients under care, except 1,324 given as "not listed", were grouped as follows, according to the nature of their cases: DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS BY DIVISIONS DIVISION OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASES Reported Cases of Notifiable Diseases, February, 1918 Prevalence. Table I following shows the February, 1918, total of 9,162 much lower than the totals for February, 1917, and 1916, 10,421 and 13,222 cases respectively. The February case rate per 1,000 population figures 1.7, the same as the January rate, compared with 2.0 and 2.6 for February, 1917, and 1916. The cities reported 5,089 cases, 56 per cent of the state total, the same proportion recorded for cities in January. In order of greatest reported prevalence for February the diseases list as follows: (1) measles 1,629, (2) smallpox 1,342, (3) German measles 1,165, (4) scarlet fever 994, (5) whooping cough 784, (6) mumps 726, (7) chickenpox 676, (8) diphtheria 562, (9) tuberculosis 548, (10) pneumonia 293, (11) ophthalmia neonatorum 148 and (12) typhoid fever 103 cases. For no other one notifiable disease was a total of 100 cases or more recorded for February. Seven cities, listed after Table II, failed to submit February reports by March 12. Reports were received from 93 per cent of all health districts by March 12. Smallpox. The 1,342 reported cases of smallpox for February give a reduction of 700 cases from the total reached for January, 2,042. Jefferson, Meigs and Morgan counties, three of the nine counties from which no cases had been reported during the four months of the present epidemic, reported a total of 15 cases for February. With the exception of the several districts in these three counties no new foci were noted. Since October 1, 5,835 recognized and reported cases of smallpox have occurred within the state, a most inglorious record for health authorities to face. Typhoid Fever. The 103 cases recorded show a marked decrease from previous years, a February case rate of .019 compared with .029 and .035 for February, 1917 and 1916. Cities reported 73 per cent of the cases for the month. Cleveland 5 cases, Ironton 4, Niles 9, Springfield 8, Wellsville 7, Youngstown 3, and Zanesville 17 give a total of 53 cases, the remaining 20 cases being distributed singly and in pairs in 14 cities as shown in Table II. Meningitis, Cerebrospinal. Thirty-seven of the 43 reported cases of meningitis occurred in cities as follows: Akron 2, Alliance 2, Chillicothe 2, Cincinnati 4, Circleville 1, Cleveland 5, Columbus 4, Dayton 7, Findlay 1, Hamilton 1, Lima 1, Massillon 1, Niles 1, Sandusky 1, Springfield 1, Van Wert I and Youngstown 2 cases. Of the remaining six cases one each was reported from the villages of Crestline, Mingo Junction and Cuyahoga Falls, and one each from Bath Tp., Greene Co.; Harrison Tp., Montgomery Co., and Lake Tp., Stark Co. Poliomyelitis. Two cases were reported from cities, Columbus and Warren reporting one each. Hartford village, Sandy Tp., Stark Co., and Independence Tp., Washington Co., reported the remaining three cases recorded for the month. Table II. Commencing with January, the reported cases of ten notifiable diseases by cities with an aggregate case rate for each city have been recorded. The reported cases for cities are indicative of cases to be found in the surrounding county districts. That a city for successive months shows a low case rate does not necessarily mean that the city has been freer from notifiable diseases than other cities but on the contrary may mean lax health administration, and unreported cases with little or no protection of residents. Health officers are advised to watch the rates, to figure rates for the various diseases, to make comparisons and to present evidence that case reports are being received. In order that such a table may be as complete, accurate and useful as possible, health officers should comply with the request to have all reports submitted by the fifth of the succeeding month. TABLE I.-REPORTED CASES OF NOTIFIABLE DISEASES, OHIO, FEBRUARY, 1916-1918, WITH DISTRIBUTION FOR CITIES AND FOR VILLAGES AND TOWNSHIPS, FEBRUARY, 1918, AND CASE RATES PER 1,000 POPULATION, FEBRUARY, 1916-1918. |