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71
TUBERCULOSIS.
89 cases of Pulmonary Tuberculosis, and 15 cases of other
forms of Tuberculosis were notified during the year.
There were 47 deaths from Pulmonary Tuberculosis and 4
deaths from other forms of Tuberculosis. The death-notification
interval of the 47 patients who died of Pulmonary Tuberculosis
in 1936, was:—
Information from Death Returns 4
Died within 1 month after notification 6
Died between 1 and 3 months after notification 3
Died between 3 and 6 months after notification 4
Died between 6 and 12 months after notification 6
Died between 1 and 2 years after notification 3
Died between 2 and 3 years after notification 6
Died over 3 years after notification 15
For practical purposes the date when the notification was
received can be accepted as the time when prophylaxis and treatment
really commenced. It will thus be seen that there is room for
earlier diagnosis in a large number of cases, and it is generally
believed that an increase in the proportion of persons diagnosed
in the slight or early stages would be of great benefit. Apart
from the advantage to the contacts from the precautions which
would be taken, the prognosis is closely related to the extent of
lung involvement at the time of diagnosis. A patient's chance of
survival is enormously increased in proportion as he is admitted
to sanatorium treatment in the early stages of the disease. This
late diagnosis is probably one of the causes in the want of improvement
which has recently been noticed in the mortality from pulmonary
tuberculosis.
That there has been a check in the decline of mortality from
pulmonary tuberculosis is evident from the returns for the whole
kingdom, and events in Acton have followed the same course. The
deaths from pulmonary tuberculosis for the last six years were as
follows:—
1936 46
1935 32
1934 50
1933 53
1932 48
1931 43