A comprehensive health survey of 618 inhabitants from 1 to 90 years old was conducted in Kathmandu City and in a neighboring village. It included the measurements of height and weight, examinations of blood, feces, urine as well as clinical findings. It also covered the examinations of drinking water and the inquiries of the living conditions.
The anthropometric measurements revealed that Nepalese children are generally small in height for age and 4.2 per cent of them were malnourished. The symptoms relating to avitaminoses, such as xerosis of the skin, angular lesions of the lips, hypotrophic papillae of the tongue were not seldom seen.
Thyroid enlargements over the grade II of Shichijo's classification or grade I of Perez's were found in 9.2 per cent of males and 18.6 per cent of females.
Among clinical abnormal findings, infective eye diseases were most frequent, followed by skin and respiratory diseases. Anemia and iron deficiency were found in high rates among children under 10 years, the aged over 50 years and the females in child-bearing ages.
Parasite infestation rate was 92.8 per cent as a whole, trichuris trichiura (81.6 per cent) was the most prevalent, followed by ascaris lumbricoides (61.8 per cent) and hookworm (29.3 per cent). Cystes of entamoeba histolytica (5.5 per cent) and giardia lambria (12.8 per cent) were also found in apparently healthy persons.
No available residual chlorine was found in the city water of Kathmandu, though chlorination was carried out in the treatment plant, suggesting some defects in transmission system. In the village, water is supplied without treatment and was found contaminated by E. coli.