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This total falls 6 short of the total number of cases owing to patients living in boarding houses,
private hotels or large private residences not being included.
The Following-up of Patients in Cases of Doubtful Diagnosis.
Patients often do not realise the importance of allowing the Tuberculosis Officer to complete
his diagnosis.
When a "suspect" has failed to keep an appointment, he is visited at home by a Woman Health
Officer, who gives him a definite appointment with the Tuberculosis Officer at the Dispensary so
that he will not be kept waiting. If he fails to keep this appointment, second and third visits are
paid for the same purpose, when, if of no avail, the case is dropped for the time being.
During the year there were 144 "suspect" cases. Of these, 8 were finally discovered to be
suffering from respiratory and 3 from non-respiratory tuberculosis. The number who ceased attendance
or who were lost sight of before the completion of diagnosis was 10, and there were 31 still
on the books at the end of the year. The remaining 92 were finally discharged as non-tubercular.
Arrangements for Securing the Examination and Systematic Supervision of Home Contacts.
Special efforts are made to secure the examination of all "home contacts" of notified cases.
Every " home contact " is visited at the home at least three times if necessary by the Health Officer
with a view to inducing him to attend the Dispensary.
Perhaps one of the most encouraging features of the work is the steady rise in the number of
"home contacts " examined year by year in relation to the number of cases notified.
There were 707 contacts traced by the Dispensary Service in 1926. Of these, 363 were examined
one or more times by the Tuberculosis Officer, 105 were examined by their own doctors or had been
recently examined at school, while 239 refused examination.
The endeavour to secure a second examination of the " home contacts " of infectious cases
after approximately one year's interval, especially young adult cases whose age renders them more
vulnerable, has been continued and the number of these examinations, apart from the 363 contacts
mentioned above, was 142. Any cases the least suspicious or with a bad family history are further
supervised.
Dental Treatment of Tuberculous Persons.
The scheme for the dental treatment of tuberculous persons upon the Dispensary premises,
which was instituted in the year 1920, has continued to work uninterruptedly during 1926.
The Dentist has made regular weekly attendances at the Dispensary and his efforts and those
of the staff of the Dispensary have resulted in a slight all-round increase in the amount of dental
work carried out.