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136
The 91 cases of Consumption notified embraced 10 which were
voluntarily notified and 8r notified under the Public Health (Tuberculosis)
Regulations, 1908, 1911.
In 7 cases of single lodgers and others who were notified under
the Public Health Tuberculosis Regulations, it was impossible to
ascertain the facts as to family history, occupation, etc., for the
patients had either left their previous .address or had been removed to
the Infirmary before the notification was received. In the remaining
cases a reference to the inquiry forms discloses the following facts:
There was no history of Consumption in parents or other relatives in
12 instances; in 12 instances parents were alleged to have died from
Bronchitis and Asthma, and these cases may or may not have been
phthisical; and in a further 16 cases there was a family history
of Phthisis. The dwellings occupied by the sufferers were, with 3
exceptions, fairly satisfactory, in a sanitary sense; and the occupations
of the notified cases embraced a great variety of employment. In
several cases want of sufficient and suitable food and exposure to wet
and cold predisposed to the infection. Although my visits were
promptly paid, in 5 instances death had occurred before the visit.
When inquiry is made as to the duration of the attack, it is
seldom that precise information is obtained, and sometimes it is
impossible to ascertain whether the actual period is three months or
three years. But without attaching much importance to the results, I
calculated that in respect to 22 cases with fairly definite periods of
attack, the average period of illness prior to my visit was about 8
months a fact which is sufficient testimony to the need for further
provisions for the more early diagnosis and notification of the disease.
In a Circular issued by the Local Government Board (November
16, 1911), which deals with the Compulsory Notification of Pulmonary
Tuberculosis, it is pointed out that Pulmonary Tuberculosis
is now generally recognised as a communicable disease. It has, however,
certain special characteristics which raise new administrative
problems and some of the measures which were appropriate to diseases