London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Southgate 1955
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Southgate]
This page requires JavaScript
Tuberculosis.
Forty-seven cases of tuberculosis (45 pulmonary apd 2 nonmonary)
were notified during the year, as against 42 in 1954.
Distribution of cases notified among the various wards was as
follows :
North-east North-west Middle South
11 8 6 22
A broad classification of the cases notified during the past five years in relation to employment was :
| 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clerical | 9 | 19 | 17 | 7 | 12 |
| Housewives | 24 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 5 |
| Children | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Manual Labour | — | 5 | 8 | 6 | — |
| Factory Workers | 5 | — | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| Professional Classes | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Armed Forces | 1 | 1 | — | — | 1 |
| Domestic Service | — | 1 | — | 3 | — |
| Food Trades | — | — | — | — | 2 |
| Students | — | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Shop Assistants | —- | 4 | 1 | — | 3 |
| Nurses | — | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Non-manual Trades, | |||||
| other than food | 7 | 15 | 7 | 9 | 7 |
| Teachers | — | 2 | — | — | — |
| Unclassified | 13 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 5 |
| 69 | 79 | 65 | 42 | 47 |
It will be seen that the total number of tuberculosis cases
notified each year over the past five years has dropped, from 69 in
1951 to 47 in 1955. I would again emphasize, however, that these
totals are much too small to allow of any signficant conclusions
being drawn. It may be thought that the total cases of tuberculosis
notified from the South Ward (22) is high, as compared with the
totals of the other Wards, and more especially when it is remembered
that in 1953 the South Ward again had approximately 100%
more cases than either the North-east, North-west or Middle Wards.
It remains a fact, however, that if one scrutinises the returns from
each Ward over the past eight years, when the system of reporting
each Ward separately was first started, it will be noted that the
total number of cases notified from the South Ward was very
often lower than that in other Wards. Until further evidence is
available, it would therefore be extremely unwise to lay any stress
on Ward totals.
46