Berry R J, Gracey M
Med J Aust. 1981 May 2;1(9):479-82. doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1981.tb135744.x.
There were remarkable differences in the rates of admission to hospital for gastroenteritis of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal infants and children in Western Australia during the eight-year period, 1971 to 1978. Although Aborigines made up only 3.7% of the State's population under five years in 1976 (the last census year) they accounted for 42% of admissions to hospital for gastroenteritis and had 58% of the bed occupancy for that disease. The highest rates of admissions were for rural infants, whether they were Aboriginal or not. Other infections, particularly of the respiratory tract, were other common causes of admission to hospital. There has been a very encouraging decline in deaths from diarrhoeal diseases, particularly in young Aborigines, in the period reviewed. Hospital admission rates also decreased for Aborigines during the latter half of the study, with the largest fall occurring in metropolitan infants, but there is still a very wide gap between the rates experienced by the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal population under five years of age.
在1971年至1978年的八年期间，西澳大利亚州原住民和非原住民婴幼儿因肠胃炎住院的比例存在显著差异。尽管在1976年（最近一次人口普查年份）原住民仅占该州五岁以下人口的3.7%，但他们却占肠胃炎住院人数的42%，且因该疾病占用了58%的床位。住院率最高的是农村婴幼儿，无论其是否为原住民。其他感染，尤其是呼吸道感染，是住院的其他常见原因。在所审查的时期内，腹泻疾病导致的死亡人数有了非常令人鼓舞的下降，尤其是在年轻原住民中。在研究的后半期，原住民的住院率也有所下降，其中大城市婴幼儿的降幅最大，但五岁以下原住民和非原住民人口的住院率之间仍存在很大差距。
