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
Enfield 1913
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Enfield]
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and contain 163 beds, 12 of which are in a special cubicle block,
which has been found to be of great service in the treatment of cases
of doubtful diagonsis, and in the isolation of patients who are admitted
suffering from more than one infectious disease.
The following cases of infectious disease were removed there
from the Enfield District:—
Scarlet Fever 140
Diphtheria 63
Enteric Fever 1
Cerebro-Spinal Fever 1
205
Bacteriological Work.
All the Bacteriological work is done in my own laboratory,
including the preparation of media, cultivation of growths, etc.
Every swab is '' planted,'' and grown in an incubator.
| No. | Positive. | Negative. | Klebs Loeffler and Hoffman, included in Positive. | Hoffman, included in Negative. | Percentages of Positives. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swabs | 911 | 103 | 808 | 14 | 58 | 11.19 |
| Sputum | 145 | 46 | 99 | .. | .. | 31.72 |
| Widal | 7 | 1 | 6 | .. | .. | 14.28 |
| Cerebro-Spinal Fluid | 1 | 1 | •• | .. | 0.00 | |
| Totals | 1,064 | 150 | 914 | 14 | 58 | 14.09 |
I should like to emphasize the fact that a negative result in the
case of Sputum is by no means sufficient evidence to warrant the
conclusion that Tubercle Bacilli are absent ; it not infrequently
happens that five or six examinations must be made before the
Bacilli can be demonstrated.
In addition to the above, I made several Wasserman tests.
Blood counts, estimation of Hæmoglobin, examination of pus,
urine, etc., for various organisms, such as gonococci, B. Coli Communis,
etc., etc.