A medical survey in a gold coast village

Abstract

1. 1. A medical survey, taking social conditions into account, was undertaken in a village of 255 inhabitants in the cocoa belt of the Gold Coast. 2. 2. Sanitary and housing conditions were better than the average for rural Africa, and there was no serious poverty. 3. 3. There was a high child mortality in the village and few people lived beyond 50 years. 4. 4. The heights and weights of the people were less than those of English people. Blood counts, and haemoglobin and haematocrit estimations, fell below the normal standards for England. 5. 5. The sickle-cell trait was present in 19·5 per cent. of males, and in 24·6 per cent. of females. 6. 6. The blood sedimentation rate was estimated in 69 people, and the test was considered to be of no diagnostic value. 7. 7. The spleen was enlarged in 45·5 per cent. of villagers, and malarial parasites were found in the bloods of 31·7 per cent. P. falciparum was the commonest parasite, but P. vivax and P. malariae were also present. 8. 8. Hookworm ova were found in the stools of 52 per cent. of people, Ascaris ova in 75·8 per cent., and T. trichittra ova in 3·3 per cent. Cysts of E. histolytica were rarely found. Urinary schistosomiasis ( S. haematobium) was present in 9·1 per cent. of the population. 9. 9. Microfilariae of D. streptocerca were present in the skins of 20·9 per cent. of the people, other filariae being entirely absent. 10. 10. Signs suggesting protein and vitamin deficiency were noted in mothers and in children. Enlargement of the liver, which was present in 33·3 per cent. of people, was thought to be due partly to malaria and partly to malnutrition. 11. 11. Seventy-five per cent. of the villagers showed evidence of active or quiescent yaws infection. Other diseases are briefly discussed. 12. 12. The normal African is not healthy by European standards, but is undersized, anaemic, and disease-ridden.