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
Harrow 1955
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Harrow]
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to see that this practice has been discontinued, then what is referred to as
the "essential tuberculosis register" cannot be accepted as a substitute
for the register kept by the medical officer of health of the sanitary
district. If the totals of these figures are used as an intimation of the
number of persons whose names should be on the registers according
to the old standards of removal, the figures today cannot fairly be
compared with those of before 1952. The figure is of still less use as an
intimation of local incidence because the areas served by the clinics are
not co-terminous with the sanitary districts.
The following table is a summary of the changes which have taken place in the register during the year:—
| Pulmonary | Non-pulmonary | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | Female | Male | Female | |
| No. on register, January 1st, 1955 | 1,236 | 1,017 | 143 | 157 |
| No. of new cases added | 104 | 62 | 11 | 6 |
| No. of cases other than on a Form "A" | 53 | 49 | - | 2 |
| No. of cases restored to the register | 8 | 5 | - | - |
| No. of cases removed | 126 | 103 | 12 | 11 |
| No. on register, December 31st, 1955 | 1,275 | 1,030 | 142 | 154 |
On the 252 deductions, 141 (128 pulmonary) were of persons who
had left the district, 34 (33 pulmonary) were of persons who had died,
65(57 pulmonary) were of persons who had recovered, 2 (both pulmonary)
were of persons in respect of whom the diagnosis had been withdrawn,
and 10 (9 pulmonary) were of persons who had been lost sight of.
The net increase in the number of cases on the register is 48, there
being 52 more pulmonary cases and 4 fewer non-pulmonary cases.
This figure compares with those of 68, 154, 160 and 183 for the four
preceding years.
Deaths
13 persons (8 male and 5 female) died from pulmonary tuberculosis
during the year and one, a female from non-pulmonary tuberculosis.
The number of deaths from tuberculosis in 1954 was 28.
This infection, then, accounted for a death rate per thousand
population of 0-06, and for 0-7 per cent, of the total deaths. These
figures are a marked contrast to those of 0-57 and 7-1 for 1934, of those
of 0-42 and 4-9 for 1948, and those of 0-15 and 1-7 for last year.
Preventive Measures
The specific preventive measures include those which result in the
early detection of the disease in the sufferers and those which raise the
resistance of the individual to give them protection against the exposure
to which all are subject.
Examination by the mass radiography unit is one of the means of
I detection. The machine serving this district visits about once in
every three years. There was no visit last year.