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
Kensington 1926
The annual report on the health of the Borough for the year1926
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52
TUBERCULOSIS.
During the year 248 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis and 69 cases of non-pulmonary
tuberculosis were notified.
The following table shows the number of cases of both forms of the disease notified in the Borough and the several Wards therein during each year since 1919.
| District. | 1919. | 1920. | 1921. | Years. | 1924. | 1925. | 1926 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1922. | 1923. | |||||||
| The Borough | 582 | 407 | 374 | 339 | 403 | 314 | 292 | 317 |
| North Kensington | 445 | 294 | 272 | 233 | 267 | 228 | 207 | 227 |
| South Kensington | 137 | 113 | 102 | 106 | 136 | 86 | 85 | 90 |
| Wards. | ||||||||
| St. Charles | 104 | 70 | 66 | 48 | 61 | 45 | 52 | 50 |
| Golborne | 150 | 88 | 89 | 80 | 86 | 65 | 56 | 69 |
| Norland | 124 | 93 | 80 | 76 | 85 | 75 | 67 | 59 |
| Pembridge | 67 | 43 | 37 | 29 | 35 | 43 | 32 | |
| Holland | 36 | 36 | 29 | 28 | 26 | 30 | 27 | 20 |
| Earl's Court | 21 | 25 | 24 | 24 | 28 | 13 | 18 | 25 |
| Queen's Gate | 16 | 15 | 15 | 20 | 22 | 17 | 13 | 15 |
| Redcliffe | 33 | 25 | 19 | 23 | 41 | 15 | 18 | 22 |
| Brompton | 21 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 19 | .11 | 9 | 8 |
Medical practitioners are reporting cases at an earlier stage of the disease than was the case several years ago, but the following figures show that some improvement in this respect is still desirable in order that the Council's machinery for the prevention of the spread of infection may be put into operation at the earliest possible moment:—
| (1) No. of deaths in Kensington from all forms of tuberculosis in 1926 | 160 |
| (2) No. of persons dying unnotified or notified at death | 36 |
| (3) No. notified within one month before death | 22 |
| (4) No. notified within three months before death (excluding those under heading 3) | 15 |
| (5) No. notified within six months before death (excluding those under headings 3 and 4) | 11 |
The following summary shows the age and sex distribution of the cases notified and the deaths from this disease during the year:—
| Age Periods. Years; | New Cases† | Deaths. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pulmonary. | Non-Pulmonary. | Pulmonary. | Non-Pulmonary. | |||||
| M. | F | M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | |
| 0—1 | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1—5 | — | 1 | 8 | 9 | _ | — | 6 | 8 |
| 5 | 4 | 9 | 12 | _ | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| 10—15 | 2 | — | 3 | 5 | 1 | — | — | 2 |
| 15—20 | 7 | 20 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | - | 1 |
| 20—25 | 18 | 19 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 5 | — | — |
| 25—35 | 26 | 27 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 14 | - | 3 |
| 35—45 | 31 | 25 | — | 4 | 17 | 15 | 2 | — |
| 45—55 | 22 | 15 | 1 | _ | 9 | 8 | 2 | — |
| 55—65 | 8 | 10 | 2 | _ | 9 | 10 | 1 | — |
| 65 and upwards | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | — | 1 | |
| Totals | 123 | 125 | 28 | 41 | 67 | 63 | 13 | 17 |
†Primary notifications or persons notified during life to be suffering from tuberculosis.
From the above table it will be seen that the disease commonly attacks people at the period of
their maximum value to the home, the family and the nation. Apart from causing deaths of
persons in the prime of life, it handicaps many by reducing their working capacity for several years
before death.