Deaths from asthma in England and Wales.

common condition, and from a stirvey of the illnesses of the adult population of England and Wales (1944-7) by Stocks (1949) it has been estimated that asthma occurs in one in every 110 of the adult population, or, more correctly, in 904 per 100,000 of the adult population. The frequency of death from status asthmaticus in this common condition is, however, uncertain, and opinions differ. Witts (1936) has written: "When status asthmaticus persists for two days, the risk of sudden death should be seriously considered. Experience of a large clinic at which several hundred patients are in regular attendance suggests that one or two of these patients may be expected to die of asthma each year." Coope (1948) writes: *' The prognosis of the acute attack is usually good. It is sometimes said that no one