Excerpt from Twenty-Fourth Biennial Report of the Montana State Board of Health, for the Years 1947-1948: Vital Statistics for the Years 1946-1947

Trachoma (table II) has shown a decided increase during this biennium, with forty-five cases reported in 1947 and 129 cases re ported in 1948. Most of these cases have occurred among the Indian population and intensive control programs should be directed toward control of this disease, which too often results in permanent blind ness for the victims.

Poliomyelitis reached its highest numbers since 1934 in the fiscal year 1947 when a total of 107 cases were reported. In 1948 the re ported number dropped to thirty-seven. During 1947 the highest reported incidence of poliomyelitis in the United States per capita was in Idaho, an adjoining state. In 1948 there was again a high prevalence of poliomyelitis in Idaho and also in South Dakota. In spite of the unusually large numbers in the adjoining states Montana has en joyed a relatively low number of poliomyelitis cases during the last year. Cases reported in 1947 (see Table III) showed a predominance of males under ten years of age while reports for 1948 (see Table IV) show a predominance of females in the under ten age group.

Gonorrhea shows reports of 318 cases for the fiscal year 1947 and only 257 cases for the fiscal year 1948. This probably does not indi cate a reduced incidence of the disease, but rather the lack of reports from physicians who are diagnosing cases. Previously most diagnosis of gonorrhea was brought to the attention of the Health Department through the examination of laboratory specimens submitted by the practicing physicians. Recently, with the widespread use of penicillin, laboratory facilities are rarely used and the patient is treated on the basis of the physician's observation of symptoms and is cured be fore there is time to make a laboratory examination.

Syphilis shows a very marked increase in prevalence from 491 cases in 1947 to 677 cases in 1948. Unusually large numbers of cases are being reported in the primary or secondary stage, (see Table V) that is, very soon after the patient has acquired the disease. With large numbers of cases being reported in this stage of the disease it is obvious that there are many new cases of syphilis appearing in the State and there is real need apparent for an intensive control program. Especially so with the availability of penicillin which has reduced the total treatment time from one and one - half years to the present stand ard schedule of ten days.

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