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21
As regards dispensary treatment, this has occupied a somewhat more
prominent position than during the first year of the dispensary. Some
12 insured patients received special treatment and some 510 uninsured
patients were treated. Among the latter it was found that a great
proportion would have been unable to obtain treatment suitable to their
condition if the dispensary had not been in existence. Tuberculin
was administered to 5 patients, 3 of whom are still receiving it. No
striking result can be recorded, but in one case it would seem to maintain
the patient's power of resistance and enable him to continue at work.
Some special forms of drug treatment have been tried with varying degrees
of success. The giving of iodine as an antiseptic in colloidal form by
injecting it direct into a vein opens up a new field of research. I am not
aware that this drug, administered in this form, has been tried before in
cases of pulmonary tuberculosis. Having had satisfactory experience of
its effects on other conditions I resolved to try it in pulmonary tuberculosis.
I selected two cases of acute type where the tubercular infection was
complicated by pneumococcal or other mixed organisms. The results
were encouraging. Both patients said that they felt much better; the
temperature came down to a lower level, night sweats were greatly
modified, cough and sputum were reduced. The injections had to be
discontinued as enemy enterprises made their homes unsuitable for sick
people. Both were sent into the infirmary at Hendon where the treatment
was not continued. I am of opinion that there is a sphere in which antiseptics
such as iodine, eusol, &c., may prove to be of great benefit in cases
of lung consumption when injected directly into the blood stream. In
order to carry out this line of investigation properly it would be necessary
to have two or three beds attached to the dispensary where the patients
would be carefully nursed and treated, and observations accurately kept
by the medical officer. I sincerely hope that this suggestion may some day
be put into practice by the Council.
Other antiseptics of recent origin such as Yadil have been employed.
One cannot pronounce any definite opinion yet as to their efficacy, but
symptoms have, in most of the cases treated by this type of drug, been
ameliorated.
We have again to acknowledge with gratitude the assistance rendered
by Westminster Hospital in the diagnosis of chest and other conditions
by X-ray#. Patients have been interchanged between the hospital and
the dispensary for special treatment and the arrangement continues to be
of great service.
Interim Tuberculosis Care Committee.—A committee for dealing with
-adult cases, similarly constituted to the one already existing, was formed