London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Croydon 1936

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Croydon]

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92
Interval Between Notification and Death From Pulmonary
Tuberculosis in Cases Dying in 1936.
The following Table shows the intervals of time elapsing between
the date of notification of a patient as suffering from Pulmonary
Tuberculosis and the date of his death from that complaint.
In the total of 128 deaths during 1936, 22 (17.2%) were either not
notified at all or only notified within a month prior to death. Id
1935, this figure was 31 or 20.9%. Of these, 9 were not notified
during life; 3 of whom were cases of fulminating or complicated
cases of Tuberculosis; and 3 cases were certified by the Coroner or
after a post-mortem examination. These figures show a small, but
welcome, improvement on 1935.
In 32.0% notification preceded death by less than six months.

Table IV.

Not NotifiedUnder 1 week1-2 weeks2-4 weeks1-2 months2 3 months3-6 months6-12 months
946396138
One YearTwo YearsThree YearsFour YearsFive YearsSix YearsSeven YearsEight years and over
1789872811

For Non-Pulmonary Tuberculosis the proportion of non-notified
fatal cases to the total deaths from this form of the disease was
56.2%. In other words, out of a total of 16 deaths, 9 were not
notified during life; only 2 of these 9 cases died at home, the cause
of death being ascertained after a post-mortem examination.
Of the total deaths from Tuberculosis of all forms, 18 or 12.5%.
were not notified prior to death, compared with 17.5% in 1935
The success of a Tuberculosis Scheme may be judged on the
number of persons dying from Tuberculosis without having been
notified, or only notified shortly before death. The Croydon figure
is a fairly satisfactory one and an improvement upon 1935, but it
is still too high. In a certain number of predisposed persons'
periodic medical examination might lead to apprehension. The
early detection of disease is, nevertheless, of paramount importance.