Heilbrigðisskýrslur - 01.12.1938, Page 186

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for Icelandic surgeons and indeed it was reckoned as a low estimate
that about the year 1880 every 60th inhabitant of the country was
afflicted with this disease; this has happily now becoine so rare
that when doctors from foreign countries come to the “land of
hydatids“, Iceland, in order to learn about this disease it proves dif-
ficult for the Icelandic doctors to find a case or two to show them
and then they are only old cases, for of new ones there are none. But,
on the other hand, they might find some information here as to how
this disease may be safely exterminated in a comparatively short time.
Typhoid, that abominable, endemic epidemic of past centuries which
has indeed claimed a larg'e number of victims right down to the last
decades, has not been completely exterminated, hut it is not far from it.
Diphtheria which was formely one of the most frightful plagues among
children in Iceland has done very little damage since the beginning
of serum treatment, and besides it is now prevented from becoming
epidemic bv extensive anatoxin vaccination. All this may be clear-
ly seen from the death-rate which has during this period been
steadily decreasing until it has now become as low as that of
inost other countries, or 10—12%c; during most of the last few
years it has heen less than 11%0 (lowest in 1938 or 10.2%o). The
greatly decreasing child death rate is not the least pleasant evidence of
improved health conditions of the people; the child death rate has
since the middle of the last century decreased from about 300%c of born
children to 30—50%o (lowest in 1938 or 29.2%0 which is the lowest
known in any country, not excepting New Zealand); although some
years show a little higher figures (60—70%o) esjiecially when there
are non-endemic cliild epidemics (measles, whooping cough), the
average is none the less, among the lowest reached in any country
of the world.
The most Important Diseases and Illnesses of Modern Times.
Epidemics. There are still a great number of epidemics in Iceland and
they are subject to more fluctuations than in many other places, be-
cause various important diseases, “foreign fevers”, which have long
ago become endemic in other countries, are not endemic here and
are periodically brought into the country and become major epidemics.
The cause of this is the isolated position of the country. In addition
to influenza, measles and whooping cough play the most important
part. The death rate due to the epidemics varies therefore a great
deal, some years it is very low, probably only 0,5%c of the population
(pneumonia is not included), whereas in other years it is twice or
three times higher, or even more. The changeable climate is the cause
of frequent cold epidemics and diseases due to exposure which often
are difficult to handle, and pneumonia is indeed ainong the most fre-
quent causes of death (1—2%c). Rheumatic fever is, however, strange-
ly rare. Since 1918 influenza has passed over the country every other
year and as a rule been epidemic for about three months at a time,
whereas the people seem to be almost immune from it during the inter-
vening year.