Volume 1

Notes on some of the more common diseases in Queensland in relation to atmospheric conditions, 1887-1891 : illustrated by charts prepared from information supplied by the Registrar-General's Department and Chief Weather Bureau, Brisbane, including returns from the hospitals of the colony / by David Hardie.

  • Hardie, David.
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Notes on some of the more common diseases in Queensland in relation to atmospheric conditions, 1887-1891 : illustrated by charts prepared from information supplied by the Registrar-General's Department and Chief Weather Bureau, Brisbane, including returns from the hospitals of the colony / by David Hardie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Comparative Mortality.—The following table will show the per¬ centage of deaths from certain diseases to deaths from all causes for the colony as a whole for the years 1887-91; and to which maybe annexed another (see p. 119), giving more in detail the percentage of deaths for each division of Queensland for each month of the year and for the year as a whole, based on an average of five years :— Average Percentage to Deaths from All Causes, Queensland, 1887-91. Diphtheria . ... 213 Diphtheria, croup, and laryngitis combined ... 3-64 Phthisis. ... 8-75 Respiratory diseases ... •. ... 9-20 All respiratory diseases (including phthisis) ... 17*95 Typhoid fever. ( Cholera nostras. ... 0-525 ... 2-87 Diarrhoeal) Diarrhoea ... 6*35( ... 12*63 diseases j Dysentery .. (Enteritis. ... 3-09 f ... 2-G71 Other diseases of the digestive system ... ... ... 1044 All gastro-intestinal diseases (including diarrhoeal diseases) ... 22'77 All gastro-intestinal diseases (including diarrhoeal diseases and enteric fever) .25‘G4 These figures, together with those in the following page, will show :— 1. That for the whole of Queensland, diarrhoeal diseases stand highest in point of general mortality, forming as they do 12*63 per cent, of all deaths, or, including all gastro-enteric diseases 25*64 per cent. ; that respiratory diseases come next with a percentage of 9‘20, and followed closely again by phthisis with 8*75, the rate for ail respiratory diseases including phthisis, being thus 17‘95. 2. That acute respiratory diseases (bronchitis, pneumonia, and pleurisy) are prevalent all over the colony, and vary from a minimum percentage rate of 6*80 in the district of Cook, to a maximum rate of 12*49 in the district of Bockhampton. 3. That phthisis is common along the eastern portion of the colony from Cooktown to Brisbane, averaging 11*62 per cent, of all deaths and attaining a maximum rate of 12*86 in the Bockhampton District.1 That for the western portion of Queensland it is much less prevalent, forming as it does on an average only 2*99 per cent, of all deaths, and falling to the minimum of 1*56 in the district of JSFormanton. 4. That with the exception of the Darling Downs and War re go Districts (West Southern Queensland), where the percentage is only 4*49, diarrhoea and dysentery are prevalent all over the colony, more especially along the eastern and northern seaboard (including Normanton), and attain the maximum rate of 11*75 in the Moreton District (Brisbane). 1 The higher mortality for the districts of Rockhampton, Townsville, and Cooktown as compared to Brisbane is no doubt due to the larger Polynesian population on sugar plantations in these districts. It is well known that kanakas are particularly liable to contract phthisis, and statistics show that the death-rate amongst them from this cause is high.