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141
Frequently the patients are unable to afford the rent of accommodation
on an L.C.C. estate and the question of assisting such
persons to obtain improved accommodation should be seriously
considered.
When the tenements are overcrowded, the conditions for
promoting the disease are as pernicious as they possibly can be.
It is difficult to conceive a condition which favours the spread of
the infection more than overcrowding. In phthisical families, the
abatement of overcrowding is insisted upon as far as possible.
Three tenements were on the list of houses let in lodgings; 26
tenements were in so-called " Model " buildings, which, with their
common landings and their many points of contact between the
families who occupy them, are only too well adapted for the spread
of phthisis.
Of the houses occupied by the patients, two were used for the
sale or preparation of food products.
A sanitary survey was made of every tenement, and the
nuisances found were made the subjects of subsequent notices and
amendment.
Disinfection.—Free systematic and periodic disinfection is
offered after the notification of the patients. In 1938 the rooms,
bedding, feeding utensils, towels, handkerchiefs and linen were
disinfected in 135 households.
A leaflet of instruction is left in every home where a case of
tuberculosis occurs and also after a death from tuberculosis, and
its terms are explained to the head of the family. Sputum flasks
are supplied free of charge. A disinfectant soap for cleansing purposes
is given gratis to those who like to scour their rooms.
Deaths.—In 1938 the number of Finsbury persons who died
of phthisis or pulmonary tuberculosis was 35. In addition to these,
three died from other forms of tuberculosis.
The deaths from all forms of tuberculosis were therefore, 38.
The deaths for previous years, in ten-year periods, are given in
the following table:—