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by the improvement in their home surroundings as a result of a
sanitary official's visit. This voluntary system of notification has been
some time in operation in Brighton, and I should welcome it in West
Ham. The total deaths from Phthisis in the Borough average under
400 each year, so that if every one were previously notified at a cost of
2/6 each the total cost would not be £50 per annum.
3.—Visitation.—Every known case of Phthisis should be
visited with the object of examining into the sanitary conditions under
which the sufferer lives, and it is also customary to leave printed
instructions, briefly epitomising the precautions requisite for preventing
the spread of the disease. The leaflet which I have drawn up for
distribution in West Ham is given below.
HOW TO PREVENT CONSUMPTION.
Consumption is an infectious disease caused by a tiny seed,
germ, or microbe (called the Tubercle Bacillus) passing from a
Consumptive person or animal into another person or animal, whose
body is in what is called a "receptive condition," that is to say, in
such a condition that the microbe is enabled to grow, multiply, and
give rise to the illness or death of the receiver.
There are many forms of Consumption, but Consumption of the
lungs, often called Phthisis, or Pulmonary Tuberculosis, is by far the
most common form. It kills one person out of every ten that die in
England, and one out of every eleven that die in West Ham. Nearly
70,000 persons die every year in Great Britain from Tuberculosis.
The seed of Consumption may be taken into the system in food
(meat or milk), but the usual method of "catching it" is by inhaling
or breathing infected dust.
The expectoration (phlegm or spit) of a Consumptive person
contains thousands of seeds (Bacilli); while the spit remains wet the
seeds remain in it; but when the spit becomes dry the seeds (or
germs) are blown about in the form of dust, Hence everyone must,
at times, be exposed to the risk of infection.