London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Paddington 1913
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Paddington, Metropolitan Borough of]
This page requires JavaScript
57
TUBERCULOSIS.
The sex-age distribution of the 836 new cases of tuberculosis (all forms) reported during
the year is shown in Table 37 (top section). It appears to be undesirable for the present to
submit any morbidity rates for the reason that it is thought that notification is as yet of too
recent institution to be quite complete. Morbidity rates based on the present data would
therefore give rise to misleading conclusions in after years. Attention may, however, be called
to certain changes which have taken place in the distribution of attacks in the course of the two
years during which the notification of pulmonary tuberculosis has been in force for all classes of
patients. In 1912, when 778 new cases were certified, the attacks in males numbered 334 and
constituted 42.9 per cent. of the total cases reported, the attacks in females (444 in number)
constituting 57.1 per cent. Last year's numbers give proportions of 495 per cent. in males and
50.5 in females.* The proportion of cases in persons under the age of 15 years has also increased,
from 253 per cent of all cases reported in 1912 to 27.7 per cent last year. In " other
forms of tuberculosis "the proportion of attacks was higher in males than in females, the
proportions being 51.1 and 28.9 per cent. of all reported cases. The attacks in persons under
15 formed just on 71 per cent. of the total reported.
TABLE 37. Tuberculosis. Sex-Age Distribution of New Cases Reported and Deaths. 1913.
| Ages (years). | All Ages. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0— | 1— | 5— | 10— | 15- | 25— | 35- | 45— | 55— | 65— | 75— | Males. | Females. | Persons. | ||||||||||||||
| M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | ||||||
| Medically Certified Cases. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pulmonary | 1 | 1 | 13 | 38 | 49 | 46 | 33 | 57 | 80 | 62 | 75 | 49 | 42 | 35 | 22 | 19 | 17 | 7 | 12 | 2 | _ | 329 | 335 | 664 | |||
| Other Forms | 1 | 3 | 15 | 10 | 31 | 31 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 2 | — | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | 1 | 88 | 84 | 172 | ||
| Totals ... | 2 | 4 | 28 | 14 | 69 | 80 | 64 | 46 | 68 | 93 | 69 | 82 | 51 | 46 | 37 | 22 | 20 | 19 | 7 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 417 | 419 | 836f | ||
| Pulmonary | — | — | 3 | 1 | _ | _ | _ | _ | 3 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 1 | _ | 46 | 30 | 76 | ||
| Other Forms | — | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | _ | 1 | 2 | _ | 1 | _ | 1 | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | — | _ | 7 | 6 | 13 | ||
| Other Causes | 1 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | 1 | — | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | 5 | 5 | 10 | |||
| O.F | — | — | 1 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| Totals | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | — | 1 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 14 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 1 | — | 59 | 44 | 103 | ||
| Not Medically Certified Cases. | — | — | 13 | 13 | 33 | 35 | 14 | 22 | 3 | 12 | 5 | 25 | 7 | 14 | — | 6 | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | 75 | 128 | 203 | ||
| Pulmonary | _ | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Other Forms | _ | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Other Causes | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 2 | ||
| Totals | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 2 | ||
t Including 24 cases previously reported as " Suspects."
Much information has been collected by the Department as to the family histories, housing
conditions, &c., of patients, but the mass of material available has hitherto proved unmanageable.
A new scheme has been devised and put into operation this year whereby it is hoped to
present in future reports the results of the investigations made by the Department in useful and
*The proportions of attacks in the two sexes approximated more closely to those observed in the case of the
deaths. In 1913 56.4 per cent. of the deaths from pulmonary tuberculosis occurred in males and 43 6 in females.
In 1912 the proportions were 62.4 and 37.6 per cent. respectively.
I