London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Southgate 1952
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Southgate]
This page requires JavaScript
this point in many of our talks to members of the general public,
local organisations, etc. As Area Medical Officer, I have also
arranged for vaccination to be offered to all members of the
Public Health Department and Area Health staffs, approximately
every year. In this way, we hope to set the right example, and to
make it quite apparent that we are not inviting parents to take
advantage of a safeguard which we do not ourselves employ.
Tuberculosis
Seventy-nine cases of tuberculosis (74 pulmonary, 5 nonpulmonary)
were notified during the year, as against 69 in 1951.
The distribution of cases notified among the various wards during
the year was as follows:
Middle
21
North-East
25
North-West
9
South
24
A broad classification of the cases notified during the past four years in relation to employment was:
| 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clerical | 24 | 15 | 9 | 19 |
| Housewives | 10 | 12 | 24 | 10 |
| Children | 8 | 4 | 7 | 5 |
| Manual Labour | 11 | 8 | — | 5 |
| Factory Workers | 6 | 2 | 5 | — |
| Professional Classes | — | 3 | 3 | 5 |
| Armed Forces | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Domestic Service | 5 | 1 | — | 1 |
| Food Trades | 1 | 2 | — | — |
| Students | — | 4 | — | 1 |
| Shop Assistants | — | 3 | — | 4 |
| Nurses | 1 | — | — | 3 |
| Non-manual Trades, other than Food | — | — | 7 | 15 |
| Teachers | — | — | — | 2 |
| Unclassified | 15 | 11 | 13 | 8 |
| 83 | 67 | 69 | 79 |
From the statistics so far collected, it is still not possible to
arrive at any definite conclusions. This is scarcely surprising, as
one would hesitate to draw significant inferences from such a
limited series of observations. However, I will continue to report
our findings each year, so that in time it may be possible to present
a more composite picture of the incidence and spread of tuberculosis
within the Borough. Meantime, it can once again be stated
that there does not appear to be any specific condition existing in
Southgate which might be regarded as favouring the occurrence or
spread of tuberculosis.
36