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 1936
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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72
During 1936 there was an increase in the number of new cases compared with 1935. The
general tendency, however, is for a gradual fall as shown in the following graph :—
The following table gives the age and sex distribution of the cases notified for the first time during the year, and the age and sex distribution of the deaths during the year:—
| New cases. | Deaths. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Respiratory. | Non-respiratory | Respiratory. | Non-respiratory | |||||
| M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | |
| 0-1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | - |
| 1-5 | — | — | 1 | 3 | — | — | 2 | 1 |
| 5-15 | — | 5 | 6 | 2 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 15-25 | 8 | 35 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 1 | 2 |
| 25-35 | 21 | 32 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 2 |
| 35-45 | 11 | 13 | 1 | — | 11 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| 45-55 | 15 | 6 | — | 1 | 17 | 6 | 3 | — |
| 55-65 | 8 | 4 | 1 | — | 10 | 3 | — | — |
| 65 and over | 6 | 10 | — | 1 | 6 | 6 | — | 1 |
| Totals | 69 | 105 | 17 | 17 | 67 | 38 | 10 | 8 |
Although there has been a fall in the recorded incidence of the disease in the male population
and in certain age groups of the female population, the above table, when compared with last year's
figures, shows that there has been a definite increase in the number of new cases in the female age
groups 15-25 years, 25-35 years, and 65 years and over.
Furthermore, although there has been a very gratifying decrease in the number of notifications
during the post-war period, there appears to be a tendency for an increasing number of those received
to be in respect of persons in the older age groups. This is partly accounted for by the more thorough
investigation of illness, with the result that many cases hitherto diagnosed as bronchitis are being
found, by the application of modern methods, to be tuberculous. Thus, this apparent tendency for
tuberculosis to be more prevalent in the later years of life may not be entirely real; and the figures
may probably be regarded as satisfactory because they show that a number of hitherto undiagnosed
cases, which may be reservoirs of infection for younger members of the community, are now
receiving attention under the council's tuberculosis service.