SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND DECLINING INCIDENCE OF SOME COMMON EPIDEMIC DISEASES IN CHILDREN - A STUDY OF INCIDENCE IN DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS IN STOCKHOLM

The incidence of whooping cough, measles, scarlet fever and chickenpox was investigated among Stockholm schoolchildren up to 13 years of age, 2000 of whom were born in 1939 and 2000 in 1949. The incidence of the first 3 diseases were comparatively low in the former group (64.1%, 87.8%, 17.1%) and in the latter had fallen considerably (51.0%, 82.5%, 10.9%). A complementary study of the incidence among adults showed this was low and static. The only definite difference was that the highest social class still had a lower incidence of whooping cough.