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83
REPORT OF THE TUBERCULOSIS OFFICER.
To the Medical Officer of Health.
Sib,
In presenting this report for 1935, it is pleasing to record a
further decline in notification and mortality rates as compared
with previous years. Co-operation with the other departments,
general practitioners and hospitals has boon satisfactory and while
various refinements remain to be adopted it must be admitted that
the Council's scheme, as at present instituted, is functioning very
well.
An interesting feature of the Dispensary statistics meriting
record is the apparent increase in " open " or sputum positive
cases under supervision. In 1928 they numbered 175, in 1932
an increase to 234 was noted, while at the end of the year under
review a further increase to 252 was recorded. This increase may
have even greater significance when it is realised that in recent
years the notification rate has markedly declined and the number
of cases on the Dispensary register has also fallen. After considering
the possible factors influencing these figures it is felt, that the
declining mortality and the tendency to earlier and more prolonged
treatment, appear to be increasing the number of potential sources
of infection in the Borough.
It is likely that were it not for the practically continuous
segregation of some 40% of infectious material in Hospitals and
Sanatoria and the supervision of known cases at home, we would
be faced with a different picture of the incidence of the disease
than that which exists.
Notifications.—Notifications were received during the year
in respect of 91 pulmonary and 24 non-pulmonary cases, representing
an incidence of .94 per 1,000 population for the pulmonary form
and .24 for the non-pulmonary forms of the disease.
At the end of 1935 the notification register consisted of 647
cases as compared with 677 in 1934. The total is made up as
follows:—
Adults.
Children.
Total.
Males.
Females.
Pulmonary
234
186
61
481
Non-pulmonary
31
35
100
166
Deaths.—Deaths during 1935 numbered 78, equalling a rate
of .80 per 1,000 population for all forms of the disease. Tho
pulmonary type accounted for 72 of the deaths, representing a
death rate of .74.