title: Communicable illnesses in the mentally retarded and nonretarded populations of three Michigan counties.
abstract: Fourteen categories of communicable diseases reported on a weekly basis to state public health officials were considered. Mentally retarded persons living in a three-county area were compared with the counties' general population over a 4-year period. Results indicated that retarded persons had a significantly higher prevalence rate of 6 of the 14 communicable diseases and a higher probability rate for 3 of the diseases studied than did the general population. The few illnesses that the retarded population did contract, however, occurred at a much higher rate than that of the nonretarded population.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D008824:Michigan; D008875:Middle Aged; D012112:Residential Facilities