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22
With regard to morbidity the rate of diagnosis 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 services are now
more used than ever before and also that new methods, such as mass miniature radiography,
now discover early cases which normally might have recovered without
notification or would not have been notified until the disease was more advanced. It
is likely 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 1952, of 1..40 per
1,000, was less than the rate of 1.46 per 1,000 recorded in 1951. A war-time increase in
non-pulmonary 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 1952 was 05.
The age distribution of new notifications of tuberculosis is shown in Table 10,
and specific notification and death-rates are show in Tables 11a and lib.
TUBERCULOSIS
MORTALITY & MORBIDITY 1923-1952
ANNUAL DEATHS PER 1,000 LIVING
ANNUAL NOTIFICATIONS PER 1,000 LIVING