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
Paddington 1909
Report on the vital statistics and sanitary work for the year 1909
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25
TUBERCULOUS DISEASES.
Total
cases
reported.
Died during
1903. 1904. 1905. 1906. 1907. 1908.
Reported
recovered.
First diagnosis
of consumption
not confirmed.
Lost sight of,
removed,
& c.
Living at
end of
year 1908.
1903 4 2 - 2 ... ... ... — — — -
1904 20 ... 5 1 1 1 1 - - 9 2
1905 18 ... ... 10 3 1 - - - 3 1
1906 57... ... ... 17 5 7 - 2 13 13
1907 84 ... ... ... ... 14 12 - 5 19 34
1908 173... ... ... ... ... 25 2 27* 6 113
* 26 suspected to be consumptive: 1 suffering from tuberculous disease (not pulmonary).
There were 163 "survivors" known to the Department at the beginning of 1909.
During the year 10 patients previously recorded as "lost by removal, &c." were traced,
bringing the total of "survivors" to 173. Forty-three (43) of those patients were removed
from the record during the year—19 by death, 16 owing to removal, and 7 by reason of
further examination leading to a review of the diagnosis. In one patient the disease was
reported to be arrested. (See Table 20).
TABLE 20. Consumption. Cases reported prior to 1909.
| Year of First Report. | During 1909. | Survivors, 1Q10. | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Living at end of 1908. | Old cases re-entered (Informal Reports). | Reported to have recovered. Arrested. | Lost sight of by removal. | Original diagnosis not verified. Errors. | Died—cause of death, pulmonary consumption. | Living at end of 1909. | Medically certified. "Definite." | Not medically certified. "Suspects." | Attending Dispensary. | ||
| Survivors. | Survivors. | "Definite.'' | "Suspect." | ||||||||
| 1904 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| 1905 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1906 | 12 | 3 | - | 2 | - | 1 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 3 | - |
| 1907 | 35 | 1 | - | 1 | 3 | 6 | 26 | 11 | 15 | 7 | - |
| 1908 | 113 | 6 | 1 | 13 | 4 | 11 | 90 | 39 | 51 | 27 | 4 |
| Totals | 163 | 10 | 1 | 16 | 7 | 19 | 130 | 58 | 72 | 37 | 4 |
In addition to the informal notification referred to above, cases were reported during the
past year by the Poor Law Service under the provisions of the Order known as "The Public
Health (Tuberculosis) Regulations, 1908," issued by the Local Government Board on
December 18th last, and by the Medical Officer of the Paddington Dispensary for the
Prevention of Consumption (here referred to as "The Dispensary.") These innovations
constitute so marked an advance in the administrative procedure with regard to pulmonary
tuberculosis that a short account of both will be of interest.
The Order of the Local Government Board requires every medical officer in charge of a
Poor Law Institution or District, within forty-eight hours of his first recognition of the
symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis in a "poor person"* under his care, to enter certain
*A "poor person" is defined to be "a person who is or has been in receipt of relief from the Poor Rate.