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
London County Council 1951
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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the population by bombardment and the increased opportunities for the spread of
infection associated with the discharge of tuberculous patients from hospitals to make
room for air-raid casualties, all combined to reverse the trend of both morbidity and
TUBERCULOSIS
MORTALITY & MORBIDITY 1923-1950
ANNUAL DEATHS PER 1,000 LIVING
ANNUAL NOTIFICATIONS PER 1,000 LIVING
mortality and by 1941 the ground gained in inter-war years had been lost. Mortality
rates rose to a peak of 1.02 per 1,000 for pulmonary disease and 0.14 per 1,000 for
non-pulmonary disease in 1941 but, in so far as this rise was mainly due to the impact
of the hard conditions of war upon existing advanced cases, it was short-lived and
mortality quickly began to decline again as the war proceeded. By 1946 the mortality
rates had fallen below the pre-war levels and they may now be regarded as having
fallen below even the level to which they might have been expected to decline on the
basis of the pre-war trends.
Ihe death-rates per 1,000 living in 1951 in London and for the whole country were:—
| Pulmonary | Non-pulmonary | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 0.344 | 0.037 | ||
| England and Wales | 0.275 | 0.041 | ||
With regard to morbidity the rate of occurrence of new cases of pulmonary
tuberculosis rose by nearly 50 per cent. between 1938 and 1941, remaining at the
higher level until the end of the war, when a decline took place, at first quite rapidly.
The statistical improvement, however, was short-lived, for between 1947 and 1949
the notification rate rose slightly. It must, however, be remembered that diagnostic