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 1959
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Harrow]
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fiom the district or on death or recovery, an accepted standard of recovery
being a lapse of five years in the pulmonary cases and three years in nonpulmonary
cases from the date the disease was arrested.
The following is a summary of the changes which have taken place
in the register during the year:—
| Pulmonary | Non-Pulmonary | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mate | Female | Male | Female | |
| No. on register, 1st January, 1959 | 1,306 | 1,019 | 129 | 144 |
| No. of new cases added (primary notification) | 50 | 41 | 4 | 7 |
| No. of cases other than primary notifications | 28 | 50 | 1 | — |
| No. of cases restored to Register | 10 | 5 | — | — |
| No. of cases removed | 112 | 94 | 7 | 10 |
| No. on register, 31st December, 1959 | 1,282 | 1,021 | 127 | 141 |
Of the 223 deductions, 105 (98 pulmonary) were of persons who had
left the district, 21 (all pulmonary) were of persons who had died, 79
(69 pulmonary) were of persons who had recovered and 17 (all pulmonary)
were of persons who had been lost sight of. One had been de-notified.
The net decrease in the number of cases on the register is 27, there
being 22 fewer pulmonary cases and 5 fewer non-pulmonary cases.
This is the third year that it has been possible to record a fall in the
numbers of those on the register.
Deaths
Only 6 persons (5 men and 1 woman) in this district died from tuberculosis
last year, all from the pulmonary type. This is a continuation of
the decline which started a few years ago. The set-back during the war
to the improving position developing before the war has now been completely
overcome, this figure of 6 being in sharp contrast to the 97 deaths
from this complaint in 1944 and even of the 57 which occurred as recently
as 1949.
In this last year, the infection caused a death rate of only 0.03 per
thousand population and was responsible for only 0.3 per cent of the
total deaths. The corresponding figures in 1934 were 0.57 and 7.1 and
in 1946 were 0.42 and 4.9.
Preventive Measures
A most important aspect of the work of those engaged at the Chest
Clinic is the prevention of the spread of infection. Early diagnosis in the
sufferer is a very important preventive measure because the patient might
be saved from reaching the infective stage in which he passes the infection
to others. The examination of the immediate contacts of those discovered
to be offering from pulmonary tuberculosis is helpful in two ways. In
the first place it might lead to the detection of the infection in one who
had been the source of infection of the first patient; his discovery might
avoid his passing on infection to others. The other way in which this
practice is helpful is, of course, that the disease is recognised early in