THE COMMUNICABLE DISEASE PROBLEM IN THE UNITED STATES

The communicable diseases constitute a group of maladies that take an immense toll in death and disability among the citizens of the United States. Of every 10 deaths that occur, one is caused by a communicable disease. The situation is far more serious in the younger age groups (those under 35 years), where the ratio is 1 to 4, but it is still important in the older age groups, where the ratio is 1 to 12. These are impressive figures, but deaths account for only a part of the losses due to communicable diseases. The sickness and disability that they cause also must be considered. The records of the National Office of Vital Statistics, our principal source of information on infectious disease morbidity, show that about a million and a half cases of the notifiable diseases are reported annually in this country. To this total must be added the illnesses