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144 Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
During the year 28 spit bottles have been supplied to persons
suffering from this disease, these persons not being in a position
to purchase the same.
It is too soon to express a definite opinion as to the beneficial
effects of the compulsory notification of Poor Law cases, but
there is no doubt that the educational effect is great. In the
cases under observation the instructions are generally found to
be carried out by the patient and his friends, specially with regard
to the destruction of the sputa.
The Inspectors report that there is always a difficulty in
obtaining reliable family histories, and also in tracing sources of
infection. In most of the cases the relatives had only a very
vague idea of the causes of the disease, and connect Consumption
only with lung trouble.
Great difficulty is experienced in obtaining efficient isolation
at home, which in many of the cases consisted only of one or two
rooms. In such cases the removal of the patient to a sanatorium
is advised, and in a few cases assistance has been given to try
and obtain this, but not until some public institution is available
for the needs of the Borough will it be possible to get those cases
removed in which, from a public health aspect, isolation is
necessary.
Of the 391 cases visited by the Inspectors, it was possible to
ascertain a definite history of infectiop in 113.
In 17 of the cases the father had died of Consumption, in 16
the mother, in 11 a sister, in 10 a husband, in six both father. and
sister, in four the brother, in four the brother and sister, in three
the mother and brother, in one both father and mother, in four
children of the patient, and in 20 other relatives.
In some of the cases investigated the mortality from this
disease among members of the family was most serious. For
example, in one case the grandfather, two uncles, and seven
brothers and sisters had previously died of Consumption; in
another eight brothers and sisters, four cousins, and a maternal
aunt; and in a third, father, mother sister, and brother.