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39
Table C., page 38, which analyses the notifications and groups the pulmonary
and non-pulmonary cases according to age, source, and mode of isolation, is an
interesting one. It shows very well that the age-period at which the pulmonary form
is most common is that between 25 and 45, the non-pulmonary being more frequent
amongst the young. It shows also that Christ Church had the largest proportion of
both pulmonary and non-pulmonary cases. The explanation of this fact is to be
found very largely in the circumstance that the great bulk of the population is
located in that district, and here there is most packing of the inhabitants, most
poverty, and most insanitation in the form of overcrowding, lack of house-cleanliness
and neglect of hygiene on the part of the individuals.
Treatment of Tuberculosis. Sanatorium Benefit.—In previous tables some
indication as to where the patients received treatment is to be obtained from the
notes given as to the sources of the notifications. As to the numbers receiving
sanatorium benefit it is impossible to give any definite information. So far as can
be made out, of the 502 persons notified to the Medical Officer of Health, at least
179 were insured and 63 of these applied for the benefit.
In a letter from the Medical Officer of the St. Marylebone Dispensary for the
Prevention of Consumption, which is set out elsewhere, it is stated that of 365
patients treated, 150 were insured and made 1,893 attendances: 17 of the patients
were sent to State Sanatoria.
Deaths from Phthisis.—The table given below shows that the number of deaths
from consumption increased somewhat in 1914, from 149 to 152. The deaths were
1.3 as against 1.2 per 1,000, in 1913.
In Christ Church there was a very marked rise in the number of deaths from 57
to 73, an increase of 16. For some years there has been a tendency to a fall in this
district and the greater part of the preventive work, both that carried out by the
Council and that undertaken by voluntary agencies, has been done there. There has
been no slackening of efforts on the part of any of the bodies concerned and it is
difficult to find an explanation of why the rise should have occurred and there should
have been a return to the figure for 1906, the year in which preventive measures were
really seriously organized.