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
Camberwell 1951
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Camberwell.
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53
New antibiotic and chemotherapeutic agents have been
employed with a certain amount of success in reducing the
infectivity in advanced cases and in curing patients in the
early stages of the disease. The introduction of B.C.G. vaccination
into this country offers possibilities of immunising children
and those in close contact with the disease, such as nurses in
sanatoria and general hospitals.
The part played by milk in giving rise to non-pulmonary
cases of tuberculosis is well known. The introduction in 1951
of compulsory heat treatment of all milk sold in Camberwell will
go a long way in the prevention of cases of non-respiratory forms
of tuberculosis.
The number of notifications of the disease is not an accurate
reflection of its incidence; the mortality figures are the most
reliable criterion of the trend of tuberculosis. During the
present century there has been a considerable reduction in the
tuberculosis mortality rate.
The graphs on pages 54 and 55 show the annual morbidity
and mortality since 1921.
Three hundred new cases of tuberculosis were notified
during the year 1951 as compared with 325 last year. Two
hundred and seventy-four of these were respiratory and 26 nonrespiratory
cases.
TABLE SHOWING SEX AND AGE DISTRIBUTION OF ALL NEW CASES AND DEATHS FROM TUBERCULOSIS DURING 1951.
| New Cases.* | Deaths.† | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age Periods. | Pulmonary. | Non-Pulmonary. | Pulmonary. | Non-Pulmonary. | ||||
| Male. | Female. | Male. | Female. | Male. | Female. | Male. | Female. | |
| 0- 1 yr. | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1- 5 yrs. | 11 | 9 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 |
| 5-15 „ | 9 | 9 | 3 | 1 | – | – | 2 | 1 |
| 15-25 „ | 40 | 67 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 4 | – | – |
| 25-35 „ | 49 | 49 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 3 | – | – |
| 35-45 „ | 32 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| 45-55 „ | 36 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 3 | – | – |
| 55-65 „ | 31 | 3 | – | 2 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 65 and over | 11 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 4 | – | 1 |
| Totals | 220 | 163 | 15 | 19 | 34 | 22 | 4 | 5 |
* Including primary formal notifications and cases which came to the knowledge
of the Medical Officer of Health from other sources.
After correction for inward and outward transfers.