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
Islington 1954
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Islington Borough]
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20
Tuberculosis.
The rates per thousand population for new cases of pulmonary tuberculosis
for the last six years have been:—
1949—2.39; 1950—2.07; 1951—1.87; 1952—2.16; 1953—2.34; 1954—2.22
512 new cases of pulmonary tuberculosis were added to the Register during the
year, as against 546 in 1953. The 512 new cases are made up of 419 primary notifications,
251 male and 168 female, plus 93 transfers in and coming to knowledge
from various other sources. The Registrar General's recorded number of deaths, 37,
is the same as for 1953, but there has been a small decrease in the primary notifications
; although modern forms of treatment contribute very materially to the longer
life of the patient suffering from tuberculosis, the volume of new cases is still very
substantial. As I emphasised in each Annual Report, there is no basis for complacency
in the problem of tuberculosis which still causes major social and economic,
as well as medical difficulties.
Of the 216 new cases of tuberculosis of the lungs in women, 150 were between
the ages of 15 and 35, and it is obvious what this must mean in terms of personal
and family upset. Of the 296 new cases of lung tuberculosis in men, 36 were aged
15 to 25, and 92 aged 25—35. Again, the serious consequences are obvious.
New Cases and Mortality during 1954
| Ages | New Cases | Deaths | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Respiratory | Non'Respiratory | Respiratory | Non'Respiratory | |||||
| 0— | M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | _ | - | - | 1 | - | |
| 1— | 12 | 1 | — | 1 | - | — | — | — |
| 5— | 9 | 9 | 7 | 3 | — | — | — | — |
| 15— | 36 | 68 | 4 | 7 | — | — | — | — |
| 25— | 92 | 82 | 2 | 11} | 1 | — | 1 | |
| 35— | 38 | 31 | 1 | 1} | ||||
| 45— | 44 | 10 | — | 12 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 55— | 33 | 4 | - | |||||
| 65 and upwards | 31 | 10 | 1 | - | 11 | 6 | 1 | — |
| Total for all ages | 296 | 216 | 16 | 23 | 24 | 13 | 2 | 2 |
| 551 | 41 | |||||||
Rates per 1,000 population—
New cases—pulmonary 2.22
non-pulmonary 0.17
Deaths— pulmonary 0.16
non-pulmonary 0.02
Public Health (Tuberculosis) Regulations, 1952
Although information in regard to the coming and going of tuberculous patients
under these Regulations is not as complete as it was under the Tuberculosis Regulations,
1930, every effort is made to confirm the correctness of the Register still
maintained in the Department. The total number of cases on the Register of the
Department as at 31st December, 1954 was:—
Pulmonary— Males 1,432
Females 1,165
Non-Pulmonary—Males 152
Females 173
2,922