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65
NOTIFICATION OF PHTHISIS.
In January a communication was received from the
London County Council asking for the opinion of your Council
as to the desirability of compulsory or voluntary notification of
phthisis cases being adopted in London. In reference to this
matter the following report was submitted:—
" So far this disease has been notified voluntarily in 18
" of the 29 Metropolitan Boroughs.
" Pulmonary Phthisis (consumption of the lungs) is the
" form of Tubercular disease to which we must direct our
" special attention. It is due to a living organism which enters
" the lungs, where it rapidly multiplies, and finally destroys
" these organs, so essential to life.
" The disease differs in severity. Acute pulmonary
" phthisis may prove fatal in a few weeks, while chronic forms
" of the disease may be so insiduous as to escape recognition
" for months, and affected persons may live for years suffering
" from its effects.
" Pulmonary Phthisis is infectious, and is properly
" termed an infectious disease. The character of the disease
" and the method of its spread differs entirely from any of the
" diseases which are already notifiable under the Public Health
" Act. At a certain stage of the disease the act of coughing
" expels from the lungs large quantities of phlegm, which is
" crowded with the infective baccilii or germs. If this is
" allowed to fall upon the floor or upon articles of clothing or
" furniture it quickly dries and scatters in the form of dust.
" If this infected dust be inhaled by other persons it frequently
" results in their contracting the disease, while those who are
" predisposed by hereditary tendencies and weakness fall
" victims to the infection more easily.
" Prevalence.— Deaths from the disease unfortunately
" formed a marked proportion of the total deaths recorded in
" England and Wales. In London alone in 1901, 7,514 deaths
" were due to consumption of the lungs. This number equals
" a rate of 1.66 per 1,000 of the population. Some of the
" poorer districts showed a heavier mortality, while the lowest
" rates of mortality were in Lewisham (0.93 per 1,000) and
" Hampstead (0.91 per 1,000).