London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Paddington 1912

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Paddington, Metropolitan Borough of]

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38 TUBERCULOSIS.
The frequency of "repeat" notifications of the same case makes it very difficult to arrive at
the exact number of new cases reported in the course of the year, and hence the apparent
discrepancies between Tables 25 and 26 (page 46). The former table is made up from the analyses
of notifications made at the close of each week, the latter from the " Register Cards " at the end of
the year, after careful scrutiny of all notifications and the verification resulting from the visits of
the Staff. The result of such work is to reduce the number of new cases obtained from the
weekly tabulation (838) to 778—the latter figure not including the 57 old "suspect" cases
already referred to.* In addition to the 778 patients medically certified for the first time as
having pulmonary tuberculosis, 239 others came to the knowledge of the Department as
suspected cases. The total number of new names added to the Register was 1,017.
Although pulmonary tuberculosis was not notifiable in the Borough prior to 1909, records
of cases have been kept since 1903. The histories of the cases recorded prior to last year are shown
in tabular form below.

Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

Total Cases reported.Known to have died during yearReported recovered.Original Report not confirmed.Lost sight of, Removed, &c.Living (known) at end of 1911.
1903.1904.1905.1906.1907.1908.1909.1910.1911.
190342-2----------
19042051111-----101
1905181031-1----3-
190657-1757111-21211
19078414126-1-82023
19081732511743312468
1909629652512-461462
191061042341213518
191167169-119582

At the close of 1911 there were 1,665 survivors (including 797 "suspects") on the
Register. Adding to that figure the 1,017 (including 239 "suspects") reported during the
year and 9 cases traced after being lost sight of, the total number of consumptive patients known
to the Department to be living in the Borough during the year (for longer or shorter periods
according to dates of death) was 1,712,† and of " suspects," 979, making a total of 2,691.
The sexes of the 778 patients whose cases were first reported during the year were in the
ratio of 3: 4, viz., 334 males and 444 females. Dividing the cases into three main groups (Table
"27, page 47), it will be seen that among the Poor Law patients, the males (52) outnumbered the
females (34). The disparity between males (127) and females (220) among the patients
attending the Tuberculosis Dispensary is remarkable.
For the purpose of examining the age-distribution—more fully set out in Table 27—the
following grouping has been adopted.
New Cases. Per of all Cases.
Ages. Males. Females. Males. Females.
Infancy 0— 5 5 7 1.5 1.6
School Period 5—15 85 100 25.4 22.5
Working Period 15—65 235 328 70.3 73.9
Rest Period. 65 and over 9 9 2.7 2.0
At all periods the notified cases among females—save in the Rest Period—exceeded those
among males. The age-distribution of deaths is just the reverse.
*The difference (3 cases) between the total of 838 given in Table 25 and that of 835 (778 + 57) is probably
due to cases transferred to other districts at dates subsequent to the making of the weekly analyses.
†It was until recently usual to estimate the number of living consumptives at something varying from three to
five times the number cf deaths recorded during the year. Such estimates would give numbers ranging from 351 to
585 consumptives as living in the Borough during the past year. The known number (the mean of the survivors
at the beginning of the years 1912 and 1913) was 1,144, which is equal to rather more than ten times the
number of deaths recorded. Even then no account is taken of the " suspect" cases.