Heilbrigðisskýrslur - 01.12.1927, Page 87

PUBLIC HEALTH IN ICELAND 1927.
A SUMMARY.
1. In 1927 the climatic conditions were rather favourable,
the mean temperature of the air being i,i°, that of the sea at the East-
coast 1,3° and at the West-coast o,6° above the average — The rainr
fall was 5% above the mean, and storms near the average. The average
temperature of the winterseason (Dec.—March) was 20, that of the sum-
mer 0,7° and that of the autumn 0,4° above the average.
2. Population, births an>d deaths. — The population
was on Dec. 31 1927 103,317 (the capital, Reykjavík 24,304), the increase
of the population being 1553 or about 1,5%. The whole growth of the
population fell on the towns and villages (1080 on Reykjavík), while the
rural population is standing still. •— The marriage rate was 5$ per
1000 inhabitants, somewhat lower than in 1926 (6,1), the birth rate
25,6 (28 in Reykjavík) and the death rate 12,4 (11,2 in Reykjavík)
per 1000 inhabitants. In 1926 the birth rate was 26,1 and the death rate
11.1 per x 100 inhab. — The infant mortality was unusually high:
83.2 per 1000 born alive (49,3 in 1926). The increase was caused by a
wide spread epidemic of whooping cough.
3. Epidemic diseases. The number of notified cases 1921—27,
and the tctal number of deaths in 1927 are given in the following table:
Incidence of epidemic and contagious diseases 1921—27.
1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927
Cases Cases Cases Cases Cases Cases CasesDeaths
Enteric fever and paratyphus .. ... 180 68 152 96 83 175 27 3
Scarlet fever 232 163 26 7 10 5 »
Measles I » 3802 1643 683 I n
German measles II 5 4 132 449 52 »
Chickenpox 157 132 163 153 IS6 143 »
Mumps ... 76 24 „ )> I » I »
Erysipelas 197 140 83 96 102 93 »
Puerperal fever ... 13 23 21 12 7 13 10 3
Acute tonsillitis 2SSI 1855 1499 1928 2119 1640 »
Diptheritis ... 400 246 165 142 S6. 71 26 2
Acute rheumatism ... 115 173 130 128 123 146 133 3
Whooping cough ... 137 J> » >> 4 91 6643 155
Acute respiratory catarrh ... 4393 4162 4460 3930 4921 4799 5264 3
Influenza 2504 1345 4992 941 3»5 1993 7
Lobular pneumonia ... 1061 1033 1009 1012 804 925 1262 1 95
Lobar pneumonia 589 609 564 278 185 218 }