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The total weight of the bedding, clothing, etc., of Kensington residents disinfected was 34 tons
18 cwt. 3 qr. 2 lb. The number of articles disinfected only was 16,856 and the number disinfected
and washed, 1,103.
The laundry work for the medicinal baths is performed at the disinfecting station and this
work involved the washing of 10,658 towels, 354 sheets and 188 other articles.
The Paddington authority have an agreement with the council for the disinfection of all
articles removed from Paddington homes to be performed at the Kensington disinfecting
station. As the Paddington council require certain of the articles to be washed after disinfection
the charge is fixed at 20s. per cwt. of articles dealt with, but there is a proviso in the agreement
that the minimum payment per annum is to be £600.
The weight of Paddington articles disinfected was 19 tons 7 cwt. 3qrs. 19 lb. The number of
articles disinfected only was 6,447 and the number disinfected and washed was 1,761.
Disinfection of Library Books.
In view of the difficulty of securing efficient disinfection of books, the libraries committee
authorise the medical officer of health to destroy all public library volumes removed from infected
houses; this gives Kensington borrowers protection from infection from the council's books.
The number of books from the Kensington public libraries destroyed by the officers of the public
health department was 88. The number of private subscribing library books destroyed was 50, and
the number disinfected by formalin and returned to the householders was 19.
TUBERCULOSIS.
In accordance with the Public Health (Tuberculosis) Regulations, 1930, which rescinded the
regulations issued in 1912, 1921, and 1924, and consolidated their provisions with minor amendments,
all forms of tuberculous disease must be notified to the medical officer of health.
The information obtained from the system of notification is supplemented in the public health
department by a study of the death returns and of the records of the borough bacteriologist, who
examines a large number of specimens of sputum, etc., for general practitioners.
It was recorded in last year's report that a survey of the records over a series of years appeared
to show a greater percentage of cases coming to light as a result of a study of the death returns
than had been the case in previous years. Whilst in 1937 there was still a large number of cases
first brought to the notice of the medical officer of health after death, the majority of these cases
were actually persons of no fixed abode who had received treatment for tuberculosis in other parts
of the country and had been admitted to hospitals in Kensington within a short period prior to their
death. The returns do not show that there is any delay upon the part of the medical practitioners
with regard to diagnosis and notification of cases under their care. Indeed, the increasing number
of cases sent to the dispensary for examination with a view to diagnosis and found to be non-tubercular
seems to point to a greater realisation upon the part of the general practitioners for the need of all
the facilities which are available at the tuberculosis dispensary for the investigation of their cases.
When the bacteriologist finds tubercle bacilli in a specimen submitted by a practitioner, a letter
is sent to the doctor if a notification is not received in the course of a few days and in addition to
being asked to notify the case, the medical practitioner is informed of the facilities for treatment
offered bv the council.