Abstract
DURING the six weeks from mid-January to the end of February 1943 the British Pædiatric Association carried out a combined clinical and radiological investigation into the frequency of rickets in twenty-three areas of Britain and Ireland*. Out of a total of 5,283 children aged 3–18 months, 106 only were reported to show radiological evidence of rickets. Dr. Percy Stocks, who analysed the returns, concluded that the incidence of rickets, diagnosed radiologically, Was 2·5 per cent before six months, 4 per cent during the first year and negligible after the first year. The incidence was highest in Ireland and lowest in South England. In Watford and St. Albans no case was detected even by clinical methods. There is no evidence of any increase in the incidence or severity of rickets during the War. In some of the cities of north England, older children with deformities due to severe rickets may still be seen, whereas the cases found in this investigation were slight and free from any gross deformity. It may be inferred that severe rickets was more common a few years ago.
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Incidence of Rickets in Great Britain. Nature 154, 123 (1944). https://doi.org/10.1038/154123a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/154123a0