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TUBERCULOSIS
Notification rates of tuberculosis were slightly lower than in 1958, and the death rate
followed the same general trend. Deaths from pulmonary tuberculosis under 25
years of age and deaths from non.pulmonary tuberculosis are now so few that considerable
random fluctuations occur in the rates from year to year. The number of cases
on the registers is now 37,124. The diagram on page 26 shows the trend of notifications,
deaths and numbers on the registers of chest clinics over the last decade. Tuberculosis is
still a serious infectious disease. It accounted this year for more cases than were notified
of any other notifiable infectious disease in adults. The 344 deaths from tuberculosis
compare with 452 from all other notifiable infectious diseases.
Services provided—The services provided by the Council as local health authority for
the care and after.care of tuberculous patients and the prevention of tuberculosis are
summarised in table T.10.
Care committees—The voluntary tuberculosis care committees associated with most of
the 29 chest clinics in London continued their valuable work of assisting patients and their
families financially or in other ways where help was not available from official sources. The
Council's local tuberculosis care organisers act as secretaries to these committees.
B.C.G. vaccination—The numbers of children vaccinated during the year under the
Council's schemes for the B.C.G. vaccination of susceptible (tuberculin negative) child
contacts of known tuberculous patients, diabetic children, thirteen.year.old school children
and students at further education establishments are shown in table T.13.
Preventive measures—In addition to the B.C.G. vaccination schemes other preventive
measures include the chest X.ray of all newly appointed staff who are likely to work in
close and frequent contact with children, staff and senior pupils at the Council's occupation
centres for mentally deficient persons (table T. 12) and of tuberculin reactors discovered
among thirteen.year.old school children and students tested with a view to B.C.G.
vaccination.
Epidemiological investigations are made among the contacts of cases of tuberculosis
notified in children, staff or residents in the Council's establishments. Similar investigations
are carried out at secondary schools where the reactor rates disclosed by tuberculin surveys
are significantly higher than the average for secondary schools in the area (table T.9).

(a) Excluding posthumous notifications.
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