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 1953
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Coulsdon]
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The new cases were distributed amongst the wards as follows:—
| Localisation. | Coulsdon East. | Coulsdon West. | Kenley | Purley. | Sanderstead. | Selsdon and Farleigh. | Wood-cote. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pulmonary | 11 | 7 | 3 | 9 | 6 | — | 1 |
| Non- pulmonary | — | — | 2 | 1 | — | — | — |
| Totals | 11 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 6 | — | 1 |
The following table illustrates the trend of this disease since
the formation of the District.
Average figures for the quinquennial periods 1915-1949, and annual figures for 1950-1953:—
| 1915-1924 | 1925-1934 | 1935-1944 | 1945-1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pulmonary— | ||||||||
| New cases notified | 22 | 29 | 35 | 49 | 47 | 60 | 42 | 37 |
| *Case rate | 115 | 82 | 68 | 81 | 72 | 93 | 65 | 57 |
| Deaths | 12 | 13 | 21 | 27 | 20 | 16 | 11 | 22 |
| *Death rate | 65 | 37 | 42 | 44 | 31 | 17 | 17 | 34 |
| Non-Pulmonary— | ||||||||
| New cases notified | 3 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| *Case rate | 15 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Deaths | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| * Death rate | 15 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
* (The rates in this table and the remainder of the section are in all
cases per 100,000 population).
During 1953 the number of new notifications of pulmonary
tuberculosis was only 37 compared with an average of 51 in the
previous five years. This corresponds with the case rate of 57,
which is one of the lowest the District has known, and this in
spite of the introduction of Mass Radiography and other means
of early detection of the disease. While violent fluctuations are
apt to occur in dealing with relatively small numbers the improvement
noted above is quite encouraging.
By contrast with the case rate the local death rate from
pulmonary tuberculosis increased in 1953 to 34 but this is due to
the inclusion of 7 deaths among mental hospital patients which in
previous years would have been transferred to the Districts in
22