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 1949
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Orpington]
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25
Continental workers have been using this form of prophylaxis
over a number of years, and are enthusiastic about its
efficiency; but one must not think that because a person is
vaccinated against tuberculosis and does not develop the disease,
he or she would necessarily have had it in any case.
Sixty primary notifications of tuberculosis were received
during the year, 57 of them being of the lungs and three other
forms. The total number on the Tuberculosis Register at the
year's end, so far as local records are concerned, was 583, which
is equivalent to 9.8 per 1,000 population.
The following tabulation gives an indication of the tuberculous 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 year | 230 | 159 | 60 | 62 | 511 |
| (b) No. of cases notified under the Public Health (Tuberculosis) Regulations for the first time during the year | 24 | 33 | 3 | 60 | |
| (c) No. of cases restored to the register during the year | — | 1 | — | — | 1 |
| (d) Other additions to the register during the year | 17 | 14 | 2 | — | 33 |
| (e) No. of cases removed from the register during the year | 10 | 10 | 2 | — | 22 |
| (f) No. of cases remaining on the register at the end of the year | 261 | 197 | 63 | 62 | 583 |
Public Health (Prevention of Tuberculosis) Regulations, 1925.
Public Health Act, Section 172.
No action was taken in 1949 under this Act, which provides
for the compulsory removal of cases to hospital.
Food Poisoning.
During the year ten cases of food poisoning were notified—
all separate instances, and none affecting more than one person.
In one case there was identification of organism associated with
a school outbreak in Bromley, where Cl. Welchii was identified.
One case was admitted to hospital, with quick recovery. In eight
cases there was doubt as to confirmation that the cause was due
to food.