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services are now more used than ever before and also that new methods such as mass
miniature radiography now discover early cases which normally would have recovered
without notification or would not have been notified until the disease was more
advanced. It is almost certain that part of the rise in notification was due to
improved case-finding and that pre-war and post-war rates are not strictly comparable.
It is, therefore, all the more gratifying that the primary notification rate
of pulmonary disease in 1951, 1.46 per 1,000, was less than the rate of
1.53 per 1,000 recorded in 195???. A war-time increase in morbidity from nonpulmonary
tuberculosis was less severe than for the pulmonary form and the rates
have fallen below the pre-war level and have continued to decline to a very low
level. The non-pulmonary notification rate in 1951 was 0.15.
The age distribution of new notifications of tuberculosis is shown in Tables 11(a)
and (b) and specific notification and death-rates are shown in Tables 12 (a) and (b).
As regards pulmonary tuberculosis notifications there were signs of improvement
in the rates for all age groups in males except ages 45+ and for females except in the
age groups 0-4 and 45+. In non-pulmonary there was a fall in the rate for males
except at ages 5-14 and 45+ and for females in all age groups excepting 45+.
The death-rate for males 45+ does not seem to show signs of decreasing, there
being an increase on that of the previous year. That of females 45+, however, seems
more or less stable. The rates under 45 appear to be falling for both sexes.
The non-pulmonary cases have been analysed, according to the site of the lesion,
in Table 13. The incidence of abdominal tuberculosis continues to be very much
lower than before the war. It is difficult to make any statement about the incidence
of meningeal tuberculosis as there is reason to believe that many cases are not
notified owing to difficulties of diagnosis. A few years ago the death figures sufficed
to measure incidence, but since the introduction of streptomycin a number of cases
now survive and mortality is certainly declining. The incidence of tuberculosis of
bones and joints seems satisfactory. Tuberculosis of the peripheral glands, which
showed in children a large war-time increase, is now steadily becoming rarer.
Food
poisoning
Since the beginning of 1949 food poisoning has been a notifiable disease in
London. In 1951 787 cases were reported giving an attack rate of 0.23 per 1,000
compared with 863 cases (0.25) in 1950. The sex and age distribution was:—
Age Males Females
0-4 70 47
5-14 48 46
15—44 132 250
45-64 49 88
65+ 16 40
Age unknown 1 —
316 471
From the above it would appear that cases are more frequently reported in
women than in men. A female excess is also observed in dysentery.
GENERAL PUBLIC HEALTH
Housing
During the year 13,364 houses and flats were erected or brought into commission
after repair by the Council and/or the metropolitan borough councils. Of these
7,375 were in London (3,291 by the Council and 4,084 by the borough councils) and
the remainder (5,989) were erected by the Council outside the London area.
The total number of houses or flats owned by the Council at 31st December, 1951,
was 145,801 (an increase in the year of over 9,000) of which 71.448 are situated in
London and 74,353 outside the county.