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When 50% of the cases referred for treatment are already
suffering from advanced disease, it is no wonder that the sanatorium
system is sometimes considered to be of little use and
hardly worth the large expenditure which is entailed. It must be
remembered that early cases of tuberculosis are curable and that
a properly organised sanatorium system provides at present the
only hope of cure.
In 1926 the Medical Officer of Health for the London County
Council investigated all the adult pulmonary cases which had
received treatment in 1921 and the results indicate clearly the
prospect of cure in early cases.
Alive 5 years
Class. Total. after discharge. Dead.
T.B. — 468 83-5% 16-5%
T.B. +1 330 61-5% 38-5%
T. 8.+2 1,299 34-0% 66-0%
T. 8.+3 858 3-7% 96-3%
Is it possible to increase the number of early cases? If so,
how can this be done ?
The sources from which cases are referred for treatment can
be divided into three and each considered in its turn.
1. Public Health Propaganda. This will be discussed
at greater length elsewhere, and a short space only will be devoted
to it here. There arc undoubtedly many people suffering from
tuberculosis who because of ignorance and apathy do not consult
their medical attendant until the disease is advanced. Propaganda
is of great service, in this direction, by advising people to obtain
medical advice at the earliest possible moment and by impressing
on them the rules of hygiene. The Tuberculosis Officer must be
prepared to take his full share in this work —but a word of caution
is needed. In Tuberculosis —as perhaps in cancer also, it is an
easy matter to defeat one's own ends by so instilling fear into a
person that he will hide his disease rather than consult a doctor.
It is better to confine oneself to general hygiene rather than to
deal at too great a length with one particular disease and so
produce an adverse effect. It is significant of our view that in