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173
Most of these attendances are of cases under a regular course of
treatment, either tuberculin or medicinal, the others are of cases examined
for the first time.

During the year 306 reports on cases were sent to the public authorities,
and 506 reports to practitioners on cases sent by them, with
suggestions as to the best course of treatment to adopt.
Eleven cases were referred to general hospitals for operations where
surgical treatment was necessary.
In regard to sputum examination there is still a great tendency to
wait until the bacilli are found before making a diagnosis of consumption,
by which much valuable time is lost, and the stage in which cure is
possible slips by.
Valuable as the finding of bacilli is, by the time they appear in the
sputum the disease has got a firm footing, hence the value of an earlier
diagnosis from physical signs and symptoms.
In many cases the examination has already been made when the
patient first comes, but in 70 doubtful cases the sputum was examined
by the Borough Analyst, who found bacilli present in 20 cases, a proportion
of 25 5 per cent., and was able to definitely verify the diagnosis.