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67
A permanent Mass X-ray Unit is available at the Central Middlesex
Hospital, Park Royal, N.W.10, and is open between 9-5 on Mondays to
Fridays, and 9-12 on Saturdays. Here any person over fourteen years
can attend without appointment or medical note and without the payment
of a fee. In addition, the Chest Clinics at Station Road, Harrow,
and Edgware General Hospital provide ready facilities for the examination
of all patients referred on suspicion of some chest trouble by
hospital departments and also by their own doctors.
In addition, of course, the clinics undertake the routine examination
and re-examination of contacts, especially family contacts of a known
case. Here one would like to record appreciation and grateful thanks to
Dr. Grenville-Mathers and Dr. Trenchard and their respective staffs at
the Harrow and Edgware Chest Clinics, for their co-operation, help and
advice so willingly given at all times.
The school medical and nursing staff continue to play their part in
controlling this infection.
1. Tuberculin Testing of School Entrants. Mention was made
in the 1963 report of the fact that routine testing of school entrants was
of doubtful value in case finding and that consideration was being given
to its discontinuation. In 1964, routine testing by the Heaf gun method
was abandoned. 102 children were given the jelly test, and of these,
none were found to be positive.
2. Examination of Contacts. Whenever a case is notified either
in a pupil or a teacher, or other member of school staff, the question of
the need for epidemiological investigation in the school is discussed with
the staff of the appropriate chest clinic. During the year four cases of
primary tuberculosis were reported in children attending schools in the
Borough.
3. B.C.G. Inoculation. This procedure, which was started here
in 1957, has continued to function satisfactorily.

For comparison, the final figures for 1963 are shown in brackets.
Of the negative reactors, 1,661 were given B.C.G. The acceptance
rate was 73.1 % and the percentage of positive reactors was 11.2%.
It is a routine practice at the Harrow Chest Clinic to offer X-ray
examination to the domiciliary contacts of those children found to be
tuberculin positive.