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 1935
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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61
TUBERCULOSIS.
In August, 1935, Dr. A. W. K. Picard, assistant medical officer of health and tuberculosis officer,
retired. He was appointed in 1921.
During his term of office, he must have gained much satisfaction in noting the steadily decreasing
incidence of such a devastating disease.
This decrease is still continuing, and the following table shows the age and sex distribution of the cases notified and the deaths from all forms of this disease during the year :—
| Age periods. | New cases. | Deaths. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pulmonary. | Non-pulmonary | Pulmonary. | Non-pulmonary | |||||
| M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | |
| Under 1 | — | — | 1 | — | 1 | — | — | — |
| 1-5 | — | 1 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 5-10 | 1 | — | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 10-15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | 1 | — |
| 15-20 | 7 | 9 | 1 | — | 2 | 1 | — | — |
| 20-25 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1 | — |
| 25-35 | 21 | 23 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 9 | 1 | — |
| 35-45 | 16 | 14 | — | 3 | 10 | 7 | 1 | — |
| 45-55 | 20 | 4 | — | 1 | 8 | 4 | — | 1 |
| 55-65 | 7 | 3 | 2 | — | 5 | 2 | — | 1 |
| 65 and over | 4 | 1 | — | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Totals | 89 | 67 | 15 | 15 | 47 | 31 | 5 | 6 |
Primary notifications of persons notified during life to be suffering from tuberculosis.
There has been during the year a very definite decrease in pulmonary forms in females, and also
a definite fall in the non-pulmonary forms in both sexes—the decrease is evident both in new cases
and in deaths from the disease.
The following table shows the incidence of the disease in the borough during the year :—
| Pulmonary. | Non-pulmonary. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Males. | Females. | Males. | Females. | ||
| No. of cases on the register of notifications on 1st January, 1935 | 329 | 319 | 156 | 165 = | 969 |
| No. of cases notified for the first time during the year | 89 | 67 | 15 | 15 = | 186 |
| No. of cases brought to notice otherwise than by notification | 24 | 17 | 6 | 7 = | 54 |
| No. of cases removed from the register during the year on account of having :— | |||||
| 11 | 20 | 22 | 21 = | 74 | |
| 94 | 77 | 28 | 34 = | 233 | |
| 46 | 34 | 4 | 4 = | 88 | |
| 13 | 13 | 6 | 3 = | 35 | |
| No. of cases remaining on the register on 31st December, 1935 | 278 | 259 | 117 | 125 = | 779 |
The following table shows over the past ten years the incidence of the disease, as registered by notifications of cases, and deaths :—
| Year. | Pulmonary tuberculosis. | Non-pulmonary tuberculosis. | Tuberculosis (all forms). | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of notifications. | No. of deaths. | Deaths per 100,000 persons living. | No. of notifications. | No. of deaths. | Deaths per 100,000 persons living. | No. of deaths. | Deaths per 100,000 persons living. | |
| 1926 | 248 | 130 | 72 | 69 | 30 | 17 | 160 | 89 |
| 1927 | 178 | 114 | 65 | 74 | 26 | 15 | 140 | 80 |
| 1928 | 212 | 107 | 60 | 64 | 25 | 14 | 132 | 74 |
| 1929 | 188 | 120 | 68 | 53 | 17 | 10 | 137 | 78 |
| 1930 | 202 | 140 | 78 | 58 | 25 | 14 | 165 | 92 |
| 1931 | 205 | 127 | 70 | 40 | 21 | 12 | 148 | 82 |
| 1932 | 210 | 107 | 58 | 50 | 20 | 11 | 127 | 69 |
| 1933 | 184 | 124 | 68 | 52 | 14 | 8 | 138 | 76 |
| 1934 | 182 | 103 | 58 | 47 | 15 | 8 | 118 | 66 |
| 1935 | 156 | 78 | 44 | 30 | 11 | 6 | 89 | 50 |