PUBLIC HEALTH, NURSING AND MEDICAL SOCIAL WORK

Abstract

The accompanying table summarizes the incidence of nine important communicable diseases, based on weekly telegraphic reports from State health departments. The reports from each State for each week are published in Public Health Reports under the section "Incidence of Disease." [SEE TABLE IN SOURCE PDF] Diseases Above Median Incidence lnfluenza.—For the 4 weeks ended December 27 there were 14,500 cases of influenza reported. The median incidence for the preceding 5 years (1942-46) was 11,686 cases. The current high incidence of this disease is still confined largely to 3 States: Texas (6,664 cases), South Carolina (2,013), and Virginia (1,992). Only 3 other States have reported more than 100 cases weekly— Alabama, Arizona, and California. Few cases are being reported from the North Atlantic and North Central sections. According to reports received from State officers there was no indication of a widespread influenza epidemic. There have been press reports of outbreaks of "colds" in some localities and an outbreak of undetermined respiratory infection, later identified as type A influenza virus, was reported in Los Angeles with 200,000 persons attacked. Later press reports say that the schools in certain sections of Texas have been closed on account of an undetermined respiratory disease, which may account somewhat for the increase in the number of cases of influenza in that State from 1,498 during the preceding week to 2,015 for the week ended December 27. The number of cases of influenza for the year 1947 was higher than in 1946 but it was lower than in any of the 3 preceding years. The minor epidemic of 1947 did not start until March and it was midsummer before the number of cases had dropped to a normal level. Measles.—The number of cases (15,344) of measles reported for the current 4-week period represented a 48% increase over the median for the preceding 5 years. During the early part of 1947 the incidence of this disease was considerably below that of 1946, but during the last 3 four-week periods of 1947 the cases have exceeded those reported for the corresponding periods in 1946 and for the 4 weeks ended Decmber 27 the number of cases was the highest since 1943 when approximately 30,000 cases were reported for the corresponding weeks. During most of the year, however, the incidence was below the normal seasonal level, and the number of cases reported for the year was less than 40% of the median for the years 1942-46. Typhoid and paratyphoid fever.—During the 4 weeks ended December 27 there were 221 cases of these diseases as compared with 166 for the corresponding period in 1946 and a median of 217 cases for the preceding 5 years. The West South Central section reported the largest excess of cases, due largely to the occurrence of 30 cases of paratyphoid fever in Oklahoma.