Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Westminster, City of]
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"I beg to recommend that this Council ask the London County
Council to take steps to make phthisis a compulsorily notifiable disease,
it being understood that only those sections of the Public Health
(London) Act be applied which require notification and disinfection,
and that there would be no interference with the movements of the
patient.
"Much assistance in dealing with consumptive cases has been given
by the Westminster Health Society, and through the instrumentality of
the Mayor (Lord Cheylesmore), who is also Chairman of the Governors
of Brompton Hospital, arrangements have been made whereby patients
attending that hospital may be visited at their homes in order to see
that the conditions there existing are not inimical to the treatment they
are undergoing.
"Disinfection by steam and spraying of rooms was done in 49 cases;
but in the majority of the. cases steps were taken to see that the rooms
occupied by the patients were thoroughly scrubbed out, walls re-coloured
or papered, and articles of bedding, &c., washed."
Out of 62 cases in which it was possible to obtain the family history,
in 25 there was a distinct history of phthisis, either in parents or other
members of the family. Of these 11 had been associated with one or
more ot the previous cases in the family, and 1 had been associated
with a friend suffering from the disease.
In addition, in 10 cases where there was no history of phthisis in
the family, there was evidence of infection from association with a
previous case of the disease.
In 2 cases there was evidence that a previous case had existed in
the rooms before.
The places of death were as follows:—
| Pulmonary Consumption. | Other Forms. | Total. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |
d 2
Family history
(a) With association with previous case 12
(5) Without association with previous
case 13
No family history, but association with previous case 10
Case in the rooms previously 2
Neither family history nor association with previous case
ascertainable 25
62