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These figures show the welcome fall in deaths, from 97 in 1928
to 24 in 1952. Roughly speaking, the Leyton death rate today is
only about a quarter of what it was 25 years ago. In some quarters
the fall in the tuberculosis death rate is attributed to the results of
treatment by modern anti-biotic drugs such as penicillin, streptomycin
and aureomycin. It will be seen, however, that the rate of
fall has been fairly uniform over the whole of the 25-year period,
and that it has not been accelerated since anti-biotic drugs became
available for treatment some five years ago.
The figures and graph also show a corresponding decrease in
the annual number of cases notified in Leyton from 1928 until the
outbreak of World War II, during which the number remained
somewhat stationary. In 1948, however, there was a remarkable
rise in incidence, and the rise has been roughly maintained since
that time—no doubt due to the effect of mass radiography in the
detection of the disease at an earlier stage.
Age at Death.