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or miliary tuberculosis during the years 1928 to 1935 inclusive.
Much has been said of the grave dangers of infection with the
bovine type of tubercle bacillus, conveyed by infected milk. It
would, however, appear that infection from the adult human,
suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis, is of far greater importance.
In the table on pages 32-34 the words " Refused examination
refer to the contacts of the child and indicate that complete
examination of themselves was not agreed to by both the father
and the mother, although they may have agreed to examination
of the other children in the family. "M" indicates municipal
hospital and "V" voluntary hospital.
Results may be summarised, as follows: —
Deaths from Miliary Tuberculosis or Tuberculous Meningitis
for the period 1928 to 1935 (inclusive) of children
aged 0 to 10 years.
Total cases 86
Contacts refused examination 26
Number of families investigated 54
Probable human source of infection found (father 26,
mother 7, both 1, others 12) 46 (85.2%)
Possible human source of infection 3
Human source not found 5 (9.3%)
On page 35 is a further table, covering a similar period of
years, indicating the probable sources of infection in cases of
pulmonary tuberculosis (all sputum positive) occurring in children
of school age at date of onset. Here again the important part
played by human infection is emphasised.