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
Paddington 1909
Report on the vital statistics and sanitary work for the year 1909
This page requires JavaScript
24 TUBERCULOUS DISEASES.
0 days (2 cases). The 37 cases have been analysed to show the frequencv of certain selectedperiods.
(See below).
Less than 1 week — 6 cases.
„ 1 month
(30 days)-14 „
1-3 months
(91 days) - - 8 „
3-6 months
(182 days) - - 7 „
6 months and over — 2 „
Of the remaining 9 patients, 1 (a male) had been in the Workhouse for 7 years and 6 others
(5 men and 1 woman) were "ins and outs "—3 men having been out once between the dates
of diagnosis (notification) and death, 2 (1 man and 1 woman) twice, and 1 man 6 times.
Three of the 6 patients were recognised as consumptives some long time before the
introduction of notification. With regard to the 2 cases, not included in the above figures,
the information is incomplete.
Of the 9 persons dying in lunatic asylums, 2 were known to be consumptive on admission and another was possibly so, the remainder contracting the disease after admission.. Particulars of the cases are appended—
| Sex. | Age. | Date of reception. | Consumptive on reception. | Date of diagnosis. | Date of death. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m. | 28 | 7, ii. '07 | no | ? | 24, i. '09 |
| m. | 65 | 13, x. '08 | yes | — | 18, viii. '09 |
| m. | 32 | 1, iv. '08 | no | 8, xii. '09 | 17, xii. '09 |
| f. | 18 | 25, v. '09 | yes | — | 28, iii. '09 |
| f. | 54 | 7, xii. '04 | no | 20, i. '09 | 1, ii. '09 |
| f. | 69 | 15, vi. '04 | no | "not in life" | 29, xi. '09 |
| f. | 25 | 18, ii. '05 | no | 2, iii. '09* | 22, iv. '09 |
| f. | 48 | 13, ii. 07 | ? | 2, iv. '07 | 7, vii. '09 |
| f. | 31 | 4, vi. '98 | no | "a few weeks before death." | 14, i. '09 |
* "Suspected long before."
As regards lunatics it may be said that diagnosis is a matter of considerable difficultv,.
that the proper supervision of consumptives to control indiscriminate infection is almost
impossible, and that the risk of spread of the disease when once introduced is very great.
Of the 4 patients dying in St. Luke's Home, the following are the notes furnished by the Medical Officer:—
| Sex. | Age. | Stay in home. | History of duration of disease. |
|---|---|---|---|
| m. | 23 | 26 days | 18 months |
| m. | 25 | 10 „ | 12 „ |
| m. | 18 | 175 „ | several months |
| f. | 43 | 12 „ | Diagnosed January, 1909 |
Notification.—Although no system of voluntary notification of consumption has ever been
formally adopted in the Borough, cases have been reported to the Department since 1903.
The numbers reported and the recorded movements of the cases during the six years 1903-&
are given below.