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194
It was found that the period during which the various individuals
notified had been suffering from the disease varied considerably;
from two or three weeks, to as long as six years in one
case. It is impossible to even approximately define the period
in a large number of cases, so insidious is the disease in its early
stages, when it is commonly regarded as nothing more than a cough.
The majority of the patients had suffered from the disease for less
than six months. In 7 cases the duration of the disease had exceeded
two years.
The most frequent causes of the disease, in the opinion of the
patients themselves, were exposure to dampness, wet and cold,
influenza, repeated and neglected colds, pleurisy, bronchitis, and
winter coughs. It was frequently in evidence that overwork,
confinement at work, shortage of food, worry, or alcoholism, played
a part in determining the onset of the disease.
The occupations of the persons notified were very various.
Indeed, almost all kinds of industrial employment are entered
upon the inquiry forms; and there is no indication of any special
prevalence of the disease in any particular form of such occupation,
when one bears in mind the varying proportions in which different
occupations attract the working-class population.
In practically all the cases the diagnosis was confirmed by
a bacteriological examination of the sputa. In 2 instances the
patients were dead within two or three days of notification; and
in 4 instances the patient had been removed to the Infirmary or
to Hospital by the time a notification certificate reached us. In
4 cases the patient had left the address from which they were notified.
Forty-four of the notified cases were recorded as insured under
the Insurance Act.
One of the sufferers notified was serving in the Army, and 10
were school children, who with one exception were suffering from
forms of tuberculosis other than Consumption.