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measures include visits to the patient's home by the Sanitary
Inspectors and Health Visitor for the purpose of inquiring into the
history of the case, giving of advice, both oral and written, searching
for contacts showing early symptoms of a suspicious nature and
who are immediately advised to seek medical advice, provision of
portable spittoons, inspection of the sanitary condition of the home,
disinfection of rooms, bedding, &c. Each case is kept under observation,
being re-visited periodically for this purpose, and where
indicated efforts are made through the medium of the Battersea
Voluntary Health Society to obtain material assistance or removal
of suitable cases, into a sanatorium.
A movement which promises to be successful is being made to
start a Tuberculosis Dispensary on the lines of that established by
Dr. Phillip of Edinburgh, and which he has shown has proved
so successful in combating the scourge of consumption in that city.
The movement was inaugurated by a large public meeting held in
the Town Hall presided over by the Mayor (Mr. Councillor Haythornthwaite).
The dispensary when established in Battersea will
work in co-operation with the Borough Council, and it is hoped will
prove as useful a factor in lighting the disease as is claimed for
similar institutions started elsewhere in London. One of the most
useful features of the Dispensary will be that the treatment will
include Tuberculin as a remedial agent. There has in recent years
been a recrudescence in favour of the tuberculin treatment, which
when first employed by Koch yielded anything but satisfactory
results. Very promising results are now shown from the use of
this remedy, and it possesses this enormous advantage over the
sanatorium and other forms of treatment, in that the patient may
be treated without relinquishing his employment. One of the
great difficulties met with in fighting consumption is that frequently
the sufferer will not seek medical assistance at an early stage, because
he fears that it will militate against his employment, nor is oftentimes
he willing to enter a sanatorium if he has a family dependent
on him. When he recognises, however, that a satisfactory treatment
can be obtained without the necessity of giving up his work for
a time, he will, there can be little doubt, be induced to seek medical
aid at an earlier period. In this way a twofold advantage will be
gained (a) earlier treatment yielding more satisfactory results and
(b) less risk of spreading infection amongst members of his family.
Already in one of the great towns of the kingdom, the Municipality
have established a Tuberculin Dispensary, and the results will be
watched with interest by other Sanitary Authorities. It is highly
probable that eventually the Voluntary Institutions started as
Tuberculosis Dispensaries will be taken over by the State or the
Municipality. Great things are hoped from the Dispensary about
to be started on voluntary lines in Battersea, and it is satisfactory
to note that the public interest aroused in the war now being waged