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 1953
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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| $$$Description | Respiratory | Non Respiratory | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M | F | M | F | ||
| On register of notific-ations on 1st January, 1953 | 663 | 598 | 66 | 87 | 1,414 |
| Notified for the first time during the year | 129 | 104 | 10 | 13 | 256 |
| Brought to notice after than by notification Removed from register on account of having - | 99 | 74 | 4 | 4 | 181 |
| (a) recovered from the disease | 7 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 15 |
| (b) removed from district lost sight of, etc. | 123 | 124 | 8 | 12 | 267 |
| (d) died Remaining on register on | 26 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 41 |
| 636 | 68 | ||||
| 31st December, 1953 | 735 | 89 | 1,528 | ||
The system of investigation into the environmental
conditions of tuberculous patients continued during the year.
All newly notified cases and those cases transferring into
Kensington or changing their address in the borough, have
been visited by the sanitary inspectors with the objects of
tracing the source of infection, preventing the spread of
infection and removing conditions favourable to infection.
Particular attention was given to the home conditions in
addition to the dissemination of advice to prevent the
transmission of infection to contacts.
During the year, four hundred and eighty-three visits
were paid to the homes of tuberculous patients. In three hundred
and four of these, the environmental conditions were such
as to require no further action on the part of the Public
Health Department; in a further fifty-eight cases it was
found that the patients had moved away, and in thirty other
cases the investigation was postponed as the patients were
away in hospital. The action taken in the remaining ninety-one
cases is summarised below:-
| Action taken | Cases |
|---|---|
| Investigation or supervision undertaken in respect of | |
| 11 | |
| (a) re-arrangement of existing accommodation | |
| (b) occupation of patients | 16 |
| (c) tracing of contacts | 7 |
| (d) preventing spread of infection | 12 |
| Recommended for priority re-housing | 53 |
| Action taken under Public Health and Housing Acts in respect of insanitary or unhealthy conditions | 37 |
Incidence of tuberculosis amongst Kensington residents who
originated from areas outside England, Scotland and Wales
In the Annual Report for 1951, attention was drawn to
what appeared to be a disturbing trend in the incidence of