Current Estimates From the Health Interview Survey United States - July 1964 - June 1965

During the period July 1964-June 1965 an estimated incidence of 400.9 million acute illnesses and injuries requiring either medical attention or restriction of daily activity occurred among the civilian, noninstitutional population of the United States (tables 1 and 4). This estimate represents an average of about 212.7 conditions per 100 persons per year, which represents a slight increase over the incidence rate for the previous year of 208.5 per 100 persons per year. An increase in the incidence rate for the common cold was chiefly responsible for the rise in the overall rate. There was a decline in rate for infective and parasitic diseases, resulting from a substantially lower incidence of common childhood diseases. Other condition groups had rates closely comparable to those for the previous year. Figure 1 shows the seasonal variation by calendar quarter of all acute conditions and acute respiratory conditions. There was a substantial increase in rates for the January-March 1965 quarter, reflecting the seasonal peak in respiratory illness.