London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Orpington 1948
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Orpington]
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25
Tuberculosis.
Sixty-two primary notifications of Tuberculosis were
received during the year 53 of them being of the lungs and 9
other forms. The total number on the Tuberculosis Register at
the year's end, so far as local records are concerned, was 511.
The following tabulation gives an indication ot the tube] culous state of the population :—
| Pulmonary | Non-Pulmonary | Total Cases | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M | F | M | F | |||
| (a) | No. of cases of Tuberculosis on the register at the commencement of the year | 244 | 175 | 82 | 73 | 574 |
| (b) | No. of cases notified under the Public Health (Tuberculosis) Regulations for the first time during the year | 32 | 21 | 5 | 4 | G2 |
| (c) | No. of cases restored to the register during the year | — | 1 | — | — | 1 |
| (d) | Other additions to register during the year | 9 | 4 | — | 3 | 16 |
| (e) | No. of cases removed from the register during the year | 55 | 42 | 27 | 18 | 142 |
| (f) | No. of cases remaining on the register at the end of the year | 230 | 159 | 60 | 62 | 511 |
If these figures are correct, and it is difficult to keep trace
of the movements of notified Tuberculosis patients, the rate per
1,000 population is as high as 8.6.
The greater facilities for diagnosis which now exist, while
they lead to a high rate, do discover the disease in its early
stages, with more likelihood of recovery.
Many of the cases on the register are not active Tuberculosis,
and there may be cases which have recovered and on which
we have no information.
It is of importance to know the ages of notified cases and the
age at death of the tuberculous. In the case of children under
15 years of age, it is generally recognised that the infection is,
as a rule, of bovine origin. Investigation into the milk supply
for these children proved negative to T.B. in all cases investigated.
This does not, however, eliminate the possibility of an
infected milk having been taken from other sources and at other
times.
Public Health (Prevention of Tuberculosis) Regulations, 1925.
Public Health Act, Section 172.
There was no occasion during 1948 to take action under the
above provisions.