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Seven patients have received this form of treatment and the results
are set out in the table below.
The Tuberculosis Care Committee has met weekly at Southlands
during the year. Owing to the close association of Tuberculosis
with unfavourable social conditions, e.g. over-crowding, bad
housing conditions, poverty, &c., the value of an adequate Care
and After-Care organisation cannot be over-estimated. It should
be composed of representatives of all public and charitable bodies
in the area in order that every avenue of assistance for the patient
and his family may be explored in necessitous cases. Its main
functions are to help the patient to take advantage of institutional
treatment by seeing that his family are provided for during his
absence if he be the breadwinner, to assist the patient upon the
completion of his institutional treatment, and to assist in the
prevention of the spread of infection by the loan of bed and bedding
to enable the patient to sleep alone, or by the boarding out of the
children of patients who remain at home. Extra nourishment his
been supplied to patients as an aid to treatment in necessitous cases
on the recommendation of the Care Committee, and patients
have been referred to various charitable organisations for financial
and other assistance. A summary of the work carried out by the
Care Committee during 1932 is appended with several illustrative
cases.
During the year 599 new patients, including 22 transfer cases
from other areas, attended the Dispensary, being 4 fewer than in
the previous year. Of the 599 new patients 151 were found to be
suffering from Pulmonary Tuberculosis and 42 from Non-Pulmonary
Tuberculosis.
In Table I. the Pulmonary cases are grouped under two
headings:—
(1) Group T.B. Minus. In those cases Tubercle Bacilli
have never been found to be present in the sputum.
(2) Group T.B. Plus. In those cases Tubercle Bacilli have
been found in the sputum at some time.
Group T.B. Plus is sub-divided under three headings:—
Group I—early cases.
Group II—intermediate cases.
Group III—advanced cases.
Tables I and II show the age periods of the new patients for
Pulmonary and Non-Pulmonary cases classified according to the
above headings.
It will be noted that in the Pulmonary group the incidence is
highest in the age period 15-25, and that there is only one case of
Pulmonary Tuberculosis prior to the age of 15.