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 1951
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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- 39-
and sixty-three in the peak year of 1946.
Tuberculosis
During the year two hundred and thirty-eight new cases
of tuberculosis were notified, of which two hundred and four
were respiratory and thirty-four non-respiratory cases.
The following table shows the number of cases added to and the number removed from, the notification register during the year
| Description | Respiratory | Non-Respiratory | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M | F | M | F | ||
| On register of notifications on 1st January, 1951 | 571 | 537 | 58 | 80 | 1,246 |
| Notified for the first time during the year | 118 | 86 | 18 | 16 | 238 |
| Brought to notice other than by notification | 69 | 62 | 3 | 5 | 139 |
| Removed from register on account of having - | |||||
| (a) recovered from disease | 7 | 1 | — | 12 | |
| (b) removed from district lost sight of, etc., | 113 | 97 | 8 | 12 | 230 |
| (c) died | 25 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 39 |
| Remaining on register on 31st December, 1951 | 613 | 572 | 69 | 88 | 1,342 |
In April, 1951, a new system of investigation into the
environmental condition of tuberculous patients was introduced.
The enquiries have been designed to enable closer supervision
to be paid to notified cases of tuberculosis whilst at the
same time permitting discharge of the duties laid down by the
Public Health (Tuberculosis) Regulations, 1930, of
investigating the source of infection, preventing the spread
of infection and removing conditions favourable to infection.
Cases of tuberculosis notified for the first time, old
cases transferring to Kensington from other areas and cases
changing residence within the borough have been visited by the
sanitary inspectors. Strict attention has been given to the
environmental conditions in addition to the dissemination of
advice to prevent the transmission of infection.
Since April, 1951, visits have been made to the homes of
two hundred and thirty-four tuberculous patients. In one
hundred and fifty of these, the environmental conditions were
such as to require no further action on the part of the Public
Health Department. At the end of the year, there were twelve
cases where the sanitary inspectors had been unable to gain
access to the homes owing to the patients' absence in hospital.
The action taken in the remaining seventy-two cases is
summarised as follows:-