Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1956, Page 72

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Tuberklarnir í Føroyum í 19. og 20. øld
infection in lungs and larynx (in use since 1899). Concerning the ins
formation set out in the death certificates, however, we can show by
reference to the special studies by Boeg (1902) and Rasmussen (1931 a)
that the figure in the offical return for the period 1879—99 (Table 2)
must be raised by about 10°/o, and for the period 1899 til some time
into the twenties by about 33°/o. From shortly before 1930 death certis
ficates appear to cover all cases of death from (with) tuberculous ins
fection. The official notifications of new cases for the period 1899—1930
must be regarded as quite unreliable. But since 1930 the figures seem
to be more trustworthy and, on the whole, appear to give a good
picture of the incidence of tuberculosis. As a point of contrast with
practice in other countries it should, however, be noted that during
the past 20 years in the Faroes many of the earliest manifestations of
tubcrculosis (especially initial fever) have been included in the returns;
these are hardly recorded to the same extent in the tuberculosis statis
stics of other countries. The official figures are set out in Table 2 and
in Figures 1 and 2, but these must definitely be judged in the light
of the critical remarks above.
A critical examination of the present materials shows that tubercus
losis was, with certainty, known in the Faroes in the 18th century,
but there is nothing from which one could infer that it was not an
old and familiar disease even then. Throughout the 19th century mors
tality due to tuberculosis was very likely about 10—15 per 10,000 of
the population, presumably on account of the relatively poor coms
munications between the villages. At the close of that century, hows
ever, mortality rises rapidly, approaching a maximum of about 25 per
10,000 in the years just after 1900. Starting from the corrected number
of deceased, various considerations and calculations will result in the
probable number of new cases of tuberculosis in the last quarter of
the 19th century (Table 3), so that the result can be depicted in Fi=
gure 3. By this it is shown, then, that if the statistics relating to the
notification of new cases were as exact at the beginning as they are
for later years, one would for the years just before the turn of the
century very likely have found something like 90 cases of tuberculosis
annually per 10,000 of the population. This sudden increase of the
tuberculosis in the Faroes at the end of the 19th century can only be
the result of the rapid development of deep sea fishing, at which men
from everywhere in the islands are crowded together in confined crew
accomodations (see Figure 3). Throughout the past half the 20th century
tuberculosis in the Faroes has been on the decline. As for the first
quarter of the century, this decline, however, cannot presumably, to
any great extent, be due to any deliberate work against the tubercus
losis (already in 1908 a T. B. sanatorium was established), but is more