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 1954
[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. | Woodcote. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pulmonary | 8 | 7 | — | 7 | 7 | 2 | — |
| Non-pulmonary | 3 | — | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | — |
| Totals | 11 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 2 | — |
The following table illustrates the trend of this disease since
the formation of the District.
Average figures for the quinquennial periods 1915-1954.
| 1915-1924 | 1925-1934 | 1935-1944 | 1945-1949 | 1950-1954 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pulmonary— | |||||
| New cases notified | 22 | 29 | 35 | 49 | 43 |
| *Case rate | 115 | 82 | 68 | 81 | 67 |
| Deaths | 12 | 13 | 21 | 27 | 16 |
| *Death rate | 65 | 37 | 42 | 44 | 22 |
| Non-Pulmonary— | |||||
| New cases notified | 3 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 5 |
| Case rate | 15 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 8 |
| Deaths | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| * Death rate | 15 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 4 |
* (The rates in this table and the remainder of the section are in all
cases per 100,000 population).
During 1954 the number of new notifications of pulmonary
tuberculosis was only 31 compared with an average of 43 in the
last five years. This corresponds with a case rate of 48, which is
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 fluctuations are apt to occur in dealing with
relatively small numbers the steady improvement in each of the
last four years is quite encouraging.
Similarly on the average the local death rate from pulmonary
tuberculosis has steadily decreased as has the national death rate.
The incidence of new cases of non-pulmonary tuberculosis and
the corresponding death rate have remained fairly constant and at
a low level for the last 20 years.
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