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6.
TUBERCULOSIS.
The following Table shows the notifications of and deaths from
Tuberculosis during the last four years:—

I am indebted to Dr. A. S. Hall, the County Tuberculosis Medical
Officer, for the following observations: -
"The number of tuberculosis deaths in Hendon in 1944 was 80, which
with a population of 132,000 gives a death rate of 60.5 per 100,000;
This compares favourably with the national figure of 62 for 1943.
Nevertheless, with the relatively good living conditions in Hendon
one would have expected a better rate. If one takes the deaths by
age groups, one finds that there was only one death under the age of
5. The figures for this group are sometimes supposed to be an
indication of the degree in which infectious cases are kept under
control. If that supposition be correct, then Hendon does very well,
for in two of the last six years there have been no deaths in this
group, and never more than two. The 5-15 group which is commonly
the safest group, has only one death. The 15-20 group with two
deaths is very good. After that the sexes differentiate, the
females having a peak at 25-35, and the men a prolonged plateau from
35-65. This "plateau" is most interesting as it is a feature of the
tuberculosis figures which is gaining increasing prominence; in fact
the brunt of the attack by the tubercule bacillus now falls on the
middle-aged and the elderly male, and not on the young female as is
commonly supposed. Whereas in 1939, 42% of the tuberculosis deaths were
in men, in 1944 the figure was 57.5. The implication of this on the
requirements of the tuberculosis service is not quite clear, for the
middle-aged man requires quite different treatment from the young adult.
The incidence figures vary from year to year; in 1939 the figure
was 3.8 per death, and in 1944 it was 3.2. In the intervening years
it fell to 2.85 in 1941 and rose to 4.3 in 1942. A scheme for tuberculin
testing of the elementary school children has been planned and approved,
and will be undertaken shortly. In the examination of the contacts of
the tuberculin positive children it is hoped that a valuable method of
finding the open cases will be demonstrated.
Propaganda meetings have been held for the public at Redhill Chest
Clinic during the year, while in addition there have been lecturedemonstrations
for general practitioners."