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
Fulham 1960
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Fulham Borough]
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19
Tuberculosis among immigrants
Of recent years there has been some concern at the number of
immigrants found to be tubercular soon after arrival in this Country.
The following tables from information kindly supplied by the Consultant
Chest Physician, Dr. H. C. Price, show the position as far as Fulham
is concerned and also the nationality of the immigrants and the length
of time they were in this Country before the disease was indent.ified.
| 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Cases notified to M.0. H. | 112 | 143 | 128 | 104 | 89 | 576 |
| Immigrants (included above). | 6 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 26 |
| Eire | 11 | Gold Coast | 1 |
| Malta | 1 | Pakistan | 3 |
| Spain | 2 | India | 1 |
| Australia | 1 | Iraq | 1 |
| Cyprus | 2 | Czechoslovakia | 1 |
| Hungary | 1 | Poland | 1 |
| Under 1 month | NIL |
| 1-6 months | 2 |
| 6-12 months | 6 |
| Over 12 months | 11 |
| Unknown | 7 |
FULHAM CHEST CLINIC - ANNUAL REPORT, 1960
(SUPPLIED BY COURTESY OF DR. H. C. PRICE - CHEST PHYSICIAN)
TUBERCULOSIS
The number of new notifications of pulmonary tuberculosis continued
to decline from 83 for 1959 to 71 for the year under review. The
number of new non pulmonary notifications, however, rose from 6 for
1959 to 12 for 1960, this increase being due mainly to 5 notifications
of tuberculous adenitis, the highest number for many years. Two of
these patients were over 60 years of age, and the other three had come
to this country from Eire.
The number of deaths (from 21 in 1959 to 17 in 1960) has fallen at
much the same rate as for the new notifications; of these deaths 76%
were over the age of 60 years and 50% were over 70 years of age. The
deaths of some of these patients were ascribed to heart disease or
bronchitis, but the main contributory cause was tuberculosis.
Increasing numbers of patients are being removed from the
Tuberculosis Register as cured. This is, of course, the direct result
of the changed situation in the treatment of tuberculosis, where,if
the patient is seen and adequate treatment is commenced before the