London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Shoreditch 1914

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch]

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1910 and 1.7 for 1909. It was therefore higher than usual. The rate was highest
in Hoxton and lowest in Wenlock Ward, being 2.9 per 1,000 for the former and
1.3 for the latter.
The deaths from tuberculosis in London numbered 7,740, giving a death-rate of
1.7 per 1,000 population. The deaths attributed to consumption numbered 6,281,
the death-rate being 1.39 per 1,000 as compared with 1.30 in 1913 and 1.34 in 1912.
A summary of the notification received under the Public Health (Tuberculosis)
Regulations, 1912, is given in Table IX. (Appendix). The distribution of
the cases according to age periods and localities is shown in Table II. (Appendix).
The cases certified were most numerous in proportion to the population in
Whitmore Ward, where they amounted to 7.9 per 1,000 for tuberculosis of the
lungs, and 2.3 for other forms of tuberculosis. They were least in Haggerston
and Acton Wards, where the cases of tuberculosis of the lungs were at the rate
of 2.7 and other forms of tuberculosis 0'8 per 1,000 population.
Where the patients are not inmates of public institutions in the Borough, and
also where they are not attending the tuberculosis dispensary, the addresses stated
on the certificates are visited by the Sanitary Inspectors in the case of male
adults, and by the Health Visitors in the case of women and children. In all
cases steps are taken with a view to getting proper treatment for the patient,
preventing the spread of infection, and securing such measures for the disinfection
of dwellings and the removal of insanitary conditions as may appear needful.
Where necessary, cases are referred to the Tuberculosis Dispensary.
During the year inquiries were made respecting some 364 of the cases of
pulmonary tuberculosis certified. In 197 of these the patients were males and
167 females. Generally their occupations did not differ materially from those
given in previous reports. The cases of non-pulmonary tuberculosis visited
numbered 84 of which 42 were in males and 42 females. The school children
affected with tuberculosis—pulmonary and non-pulmonary—numbered 59, of which
32 were boys and 27 girls. In inspecting the dwellings of tuberculous patients,
attention is especially directed to the amount of cubic space available for the
patient, particularly for sleeping, the means provided for securing efficient ventilation,
the amount of light, the presence of dampness, and general conditions as
regards cleanliness. As the result of the inspections in cases of pulmonary
tuberculosis, in 179 instances the dwellings may be described as satisfactory or
fairly so; and in 185 they were unsatisfactory; in the cases of non-pulmonary
tuberculosis, 26 of the dwellings were satisfactory and 58 unsatisfactory. In
63 instances of pulmonary tuberculosis there were family histories of the disease,
and in 61 there was more or less evidence pointing to infection from previous
cases either in the patients home or place where they worked. With respect to
non-pulmonary tuberculosis there were family histories in 22, and more or less
evidence of infection in 8.