London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
City of Westminster 1925
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Westminster, City of]
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Out of the total cases notified in 1925, 46 died, and the following table shows the period between notification and death of these cases.
| Weeks. | Months. | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1—2 | 2—3 | 3—4 | 1—2 | 2—3 | 3—4 | 4—5 | 5—6 | 6—7 | 7—8 | 8—9 | 9—10 |
| 15 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
There are considerable grounds for believing that the incidence of
tuberculosis in 1925 has shown a genuine fall. Reference has been made to
sufferers who delay seeking medical advice until an advanced stage in their
illness which results in those cases being notified to the Medical Officer of
Health so late that death ensues before such means of treatment as is in
the hands of the public authority can be usefully applied for their cure or
relief. On comparison it is found that in the four preceding years, the
number of cases which died during the same year as they were notified
was as follows:—
Table II.
| 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New eases notified | 312 | 327 | 324 | 347 | 282 |
| Number included in above who died during the year | 83 (26.6%) | 100 (30.5%) | 44 (13.5%) | 66 (19.0%) | 46 (16.3%) |
| Total Tuberculous Deaths | 135 | 165 | 119 | 138 | 129 |
| Death Rates per 100,000 | 95.5 | 118.3 | 84.7 | 96.5 | 92.4 |
While there has been a considerable reduction in the number of cases
diagnosed as tuberculous, there have also been fewer deaths from this
disease and a smaller proportion of cases found in an advanced stage,
i.e., diagnosed within a year of death.