Md odds ce OE a ee ek Ee ee Oo ed eet cE ee a nae ae ee ee eee mn ce bt ene HEALTH SURVEY IN PACIFIC Table 13. Results of chest x-ray survey for active pulmonary tuberculosis by age group Active by x-ray ‘Age group (years) Total Number! All ages Under 5 Stol4 1S to 24 a3 to 4 ae 45 and over 241 ° s 15 Satpan district ; Percent | Number: : 1.3 68 sj 3 | 8 16 | 20 a | a 3 Lt Us 3.2 1.2 of | | | Percent | a 67 | 5; ii | 1.6 4 Ls 1 Palau ¢istrict . i Number. ' iH s | t district Percent 14 39 2 .4 2 LS 7 wok Lk 6 35 8 cape Marshal! Islands iy.Number;| | | | | 6 22 Percent 0.7 8 2 .§ a) 2.0 x-rayed were aged and infirm. The initial examination consisted of a 35-mm photofluorographic roentgenogram that, if the x-ray ‘shadows were suspiciously abnormal, was followed by a 14- by 17inch chest roentgenogram. The findings reported in this survey were made from the 14- by 17-inch films without further clinical study. On the basis of these examinations 4.5 percent of those x-rayed were found to have chest defects. and 1.3 percent were suspected of having active pulmonary tuberculosis. The number of chest tumors, cardiovascular abnormalities, and bone deformities was negligible, none being over0.3 percent of the total x-rayed. The prevalence rates for active pulmonary tuberculosis increase with age, showing but little variation by sex. The proportion of active-pulinonary-tuberculosis suspects among those x-rayed is greatest for those 45 years of age andover, 3.2 percent as compared with , the next highest rate of 1.2 percent for the 25- to t4-year age group. Only slight ditterences were noted between rates for both sexes, the overall rate for females exceeding that for males by 0.1 percent. Of the three districts Saipan has the highest percentage of chest defects, with Palau ranking second and the Marshall Isiands lowest of all, 5.4, 4.4, and3.9 percent. respectively. Of the persons x-raved - only 0.7 percent in the Marshall Islands, 1.5 percent in Palau, and 1.6 percent in Saipan were recorded as being suspected of having active pulmonary tuberculosis. On the basis of the chest roentgenowrams performed (table 14}, 10 islands had no active pulmonary tuberculosis. On the other islands the percentige of positive Alms for the x-rayed population ranged from Kwajalein’s 0.1 to Faraulep’s 6.8. On six of these islands or OCTOBER 1959 . ees gg te ng 5043-265... nt 1213 ee pe re et oe ier cme Ee ET