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48
94. The Public House as a source of infection.—I have
already pointed out that 33 per cent. of the notified cases were
intemperate, and 90 per cent. habitual drinkers (and as such
frequenters of public houses.)
The fact that men are affected more than women, that men
are affected more after the age of 35, and that the incidence is
specially on such occupations (dock labourers, musicians, carmen
and cabmen, barmen, and others employed at publichouses)
as give opportunity to frequent public-houses is further
proof of the close connection between the tavern and consumption.
Seeing that drink bars are frequented largely by
men in all stages of consumption, and that spitting on the floor
is a general practice in these places, it is to be expected that
they should be a fruitful source of infection, and as shown
above, my enquiries go to show that they are the most frequent
source of the disease. To put this supposition to the test,
samples from the bar sweepings of six public houses were
examined by innoculation experiments, and the tubercle bacillus
was found in two of them. During the past two years, six
deaths from phthisis have occurred among persons engaged in
the drink traffic, giving a mortality of 3.8 per 1000 persons so
employed, or nearly thrice the mortality of the Borough.
95. Infection of Children.—Enquiry was made into 34
deaths of children from general tuberculosis and tubercular
meningitis, and 18 were found to have been infected by relatives
or friends suffering from phthisis, but only one of whom had
been notified; 7 were infected by the father, and 5 by the
mother ; 7 more of the 34 were probably infected by parents
or friends in an early and unrecognised stage of consumption.
These facts show both the importance of early recognition and
notification of phthisis, and the fact that only a very small
proportion of cases are yet notified as early as is desirable.