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TUBERCULOSIS
Notification rates of pulmonary tuberculosis were slightly lower than in 1959 and the
death rate followed the same general trend. The diagram on page 30 shows the trend of
notifications, deaths and numbers on the registers of chest clinics over the last decade.
Deaths from non.pulmonary tuberculosis are now so few that considerable random
fluctuations occur in the rates from year to year and therefore are not shown in the diagram.
The number of cases on the registers is now 36,567. Tuberculosis is still a serious infectious
disease. This year, in adults it accounted for more cases than were notified of any other
notifiable infectious disease. The 269 deaths from tuberculosis (all forms both sexes)
include 155 deaths from pulmonary disease in men aged 45 years and over.
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,
students at further education establishments and mentally subnormal persons at training
centres are shown in table T.12.
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 at the Council's training centres for mentally
subnormal persons and of tuberculin reactors discovered among thirteen.year.old school
children, students and others 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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