'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎276v] (555/862)

428 PUBLIC HEALTH AND DISEASE
Tuberculosis was returned as the cause of 6-2 per cent, of the total
deaths registered in the three principal cities of Iraq over a period of
9 years. In England and Wales about 5-5 per cent, of all deaths are due
to tuberculosis, and the total death-rate of Iraqi cities is certainly
more than double the English rate. In 1939, 11,276 cases of tuber
culosis were treated in medical institutions in Iraq; of these 9>°24
were pulmonary cases. Cases of pulmonary tuberculosis were notified
from all provinces, most being reported from Diwaniya and fewest
from Erbil.
Leprosy
Cases of leprosy treated at all medical institutions in 1939 numbered
373. Registered cases, presumably new, were 179 in that year. Cases
were reported from all provinces (Amara (73); Basra (24); Muntafiq
(21); Baghdad (19); and Diwaniya (10)). There is a leprosy hospital
at Amara.
Heat-stroke
Experience during the War of 1914-1918 showed that heat-stroke
is prominent among the perils of campaigning in Iraq during the hot
weather. At the first battle of Ramadi 321 cases of heat-stroke
occurred in one afternoon (8 July 1917), 1 out of a total casualty list
of 566.
The climate of Iraq has been fully described in Chapter IV. The
relatively cool nights even in the hot months make Iraq a possible
country for the white man living in good peace-time conditions. For
troops under canvas in July and August the climate may be dangerous;
day temperatures of 135 0 to 140° F. are not uncommon in double-fly
tents during a heat wave. Severe heat waves tend to occur about
every third year; the maximum shade temperatures exceed 120° F.
for from 3 to 5 days. Heat-stroke results from the cumulative effects of
exposure to excessive heat; most cases occur on the third or fourth
day of the heat wave and symptoms commonly develop in the night or
early morning when the atmospheric temperature has fallen con
siderably.
Cases of heat-stroke may be classified clinically as heat syncope,
heat exhaustion, and heat hyperpyrexia.
Syncope, or a fainting fit, may occur anywhere in hot stuffy places,
1 The official temperature at Baghdad on the same afternoon was 122 0 F. The
temperature in tents was 130° F. and in the sun 160° F.