London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Coulsdon and Purley 1950
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Coulsdon]
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The following table shows the age-groups in which notifications and deaths occurred
| Age Periods. | New Cases. | Deaths. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pulmonary. | Non-pulmonary. | Pulmonary. | Non-pulmonary. | |||||
| M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | |
| Under 1 year | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 and under 5 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 5 and under 10 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 10 and under 15 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 15 and under 20 | - | 3 | - | 1 | - | 1 | - | - |
| 20 and under 25 | 5 | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | - | |
| 25 and under 35 | 8 | 3 | - | 2 | 4 | 1 | - | - |
| 35 and under 45 | 2 | 5 | - | - | 1 | 4 | 1 | - |
| 45 and under 55 | 5 | 1 | 1 | - | 3 | - | - | - |
| 55 and under 65 | 6 | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| 65 and over | 3 | 2 | 2 | - | 1 | 2 | 1 | - |
| Totals | 28 | 19 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 9 | 2 | - |
The new cases were distributed amongst the wards as follows
| Localisation. | Coulsdon East. | Coulsdon West. | Kenley | Purley. | Sander-stead. | Selsdon and Farleigh. | Wood-cote. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pulmonary | 11 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 6 | |
| Non- pulmonary | 2 | 1 | — | 1 | — | 1 | |
| Totals | 13 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 7 |
The number of new notifications of pulmonary tuberculosis
was 47, compared with 57, 48 and 59 in the previous 3 years.
This corresponds with a case rate of 72 per 100,000 population
which is the average for the last 5 or 10 years, and a considerable
improvement on last year. It is, however, much higher
than it was in the years immediately before the war, possibly
due to the influence of Mass Radiography etc. in detecting more
cases in their earlier stages.
The incidence of this disease can be further reduced if
more hospital beds are made available, immunisation and
segregation of contacts is encouraged, and preferential treatment
is given in rehousing and rehabilitation.
The death rate from pulmonary tuberculosis has again
dropped to a low leval, as it has nationally, being 31 per 100,000
population in 1950, compared with 64 and 29 in the two preceding
years, and a post-war average of 43. (Nationally it was 40
in 1949 and 32 in 1950).
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