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
Southgate 1954
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Southgate]
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A broad classification of the cases notified during the past five years in relation to employment was:
| 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clerical | 15 | 9 | 19 | 17 | 7 |
| Housewives | 12 | 24 | 10 | 12 | 6 |
| Children | 4 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| Manual Labour | 8 | - | 5 | 8 | 6 |
| Factory Workers | 2 | 5 | - | 5 | 2 |
| Professional Classes | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| Armed Forces | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| Domestic Service | 1 | - | 1 | - | 3 |
| Food Trades | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Students | 4 | - | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Shop Assistants | 3 | - | 4 | 1 | - |
| Nurses | - | - | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Non-manual Trades, other than food | 7 | 15 | 7 | 9 | |
| Teachers | - | - | 2 | - | - |
| Unclassified | 11 | 13 | 8 | 7 | 3 |
| 67 | 69 | 79 | 65 | 42 |
It will be seen that the total number of cases of tuberculosis
notified each year over the past five yearly periods has been more
or less consistent, except for a slight rise in 1952 and a rather
greater fall in 1954. With regard to these totals, I have already
emphasised that the period covered is too short and the totals too
small to allow of any significant conclusions being drawn.
Further to this, we know that the factors which contribute to
the number of cases of tuberculosis notified in any district during
a year are so diverse and so complex as to make proper analysis
extremely difficult. Thus, families in which a case of tuberculosis
has already occurred, and which may still contain an infected member,
may very well move to Southgate because of the amenities to
be found within the Borough. It is also worthy of note that the
incidence of tuberculosis has not fallen in the country as a whole
during the post-war period. This is undoubtedly due, in part at
least, to the greatly improved facilities for discovering the disease
in its early stages, more especially the work of Mass Radiography
Units and Chest Clinics.
There does not appear to be any reason to believe that Southgate
has more than its share of fresh cases every year, or that any
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