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 1931
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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56
TUBERCULOSIS.
During the year 205 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis and 40 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 1922.
| District. | 1922. | 1923. | 1924. | 1925. | Years. | 1928. | 1929. | 1930. | 1931. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1926. | 1927. | |||||||||
| The Borough | 339 | 403 | 314 | 292 | 317 | 252 | 276 | 241 | 260 | 245 |
| North Kensington | 233 | 267 | 228 | 207 | 227 | 166 | 179 | 156 | 178 | 149 |
| South Kensington | 106 | 136 | 86 | 85 | 90 | 86 | 97 | 85 | 82 | 96 |
| Wards. | ||||||||||
| St. Charles | 48 | 61 | 45 | 52 | 50 | 39 | 48 | 39 | 56 | 49 |
| Golborne | 80 | 86 | 65 | 56 | 69 | 53 | 57 | 41 | 46 | 40 |
| Norland | 76 | 85 | 75 | 67 | 59 | 44 | 49 | 43 | 42 | 31 |
| Pembridge | 29 | 35 | 43 | 32 | 49 | 30 | 25 | 33 | 34 | 29 |
| Holland | 28 | 26 | 30 | 27 | 20 | 11 | 25 | 20 | 21 | 17 |
| Earl's Court | 24 | 28 | 13 | 18 | 25 | 25 | 20 | 21 | 19 | 23 |
| Queen's Gate | 20 | 22 | 17 | 13 | 15 | 10 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Redcliffe | 23 | 41 | 15 | 18 | 22 | 25 | 26 | 25 | 20 | 32 |
| Brompton | 11 | 19 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 14 | 15 |
It will be seen that the number of notifications in 1931 was lower than in the preceding year,
and only four more than the figure for 1929, which was the lowest on record.
Medical practitioners are reporting cases at an earlier stage of the disease than was the practice
several years ago, but as 29 out of the 148 persons dying from tuberculosis in 1931 had not been
notified prior to death some improvement is desirable in this respect 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.
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. | |
| 1—7 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | - | 1 |
| 1—5 | — | — | 2 | — | — | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 5—10 | 1 | — | 2 | 2 | — | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 10—15 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 5 | — | 1 | — | 2 |
| 15—20 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 3 |
| 20—25 | 21 | 19 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 |
| 25—35 | 23 | 30 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 10 | — | 1 |
| 35—45 | 18 | 9 | — | 1 | 11 | 10 | — | — |
| 45—55 | 24 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 9 | — | — |
| 55—65 | 11 | 8 | — | — | 14 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 65 and upwards | 4 | 1 | — | — | 6 | 3 | — | — |
| Totals | 114 | 91 | 22 | 18 | 73 | 54 | 7 | 14 |
† Primary notifications of 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.