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
East Ham 1958
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for East Ham]
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46
There is no change in the procedure outlined on page 53 of my report for 1949 in respect of the
provision of free extra nourishment (milk and food) and free convalescent treatment to tuberculosis
patients.
Number of occasions on which free extra nourishment was provided:-
| 1958 | 1959 | |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 612 | 547 |
| Food | 89 | 54 |
| Total | 701 | 601 |
The following statistics relate to the work of the part-time occupational therapist:-
| 1958 | 1959 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| (a) | Number of sessions at the therapy centre | 95 | 96 |
| (b) | Number of attendances at Classes by patients | 1,227 | 905 |
| (c) | Number of sessions worked in visiting patients and giving instruction in their homes | 93 | 98 |
| (d) | Number of visits by therapist to patients' homes | 488 | 478 |
TABLE 36 B.C.G. VACCINATION-STATISTICS
| Number Skin Tested | Number found Negative | Number Vaccinated or re-vaccinated | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | 1959 | 1958 | 1959 | 1958 | 1959 | |
| A Contacts of active cases of Tuberculosis | 241 | 299 | 145 | 188 | 169 | 215 |
| B Schoolchildren | 307 | + 534 | 260 | + 390 | 273 | 345+ |
| (i) Initial examination | ||||||
| (ii) Re-examination of children vaccinated | 325 | - | - | - | - | - |
+ This figure includes numbers of schoolchildren 14 years and over.
In accordance with the Ministry's advice, the practice of conducting a "conversion test" after
vaccination ceased in 1959.
TUBERCULOSIS VACCINES CLINICAL TRIAL
A contribution on this subject was made by Dr. T.M. Pollock in my report for 1956/57. In a
paper presented to the Annual Conference of The British Tuberculosis Association (Bristol, June 29th
1956) by Dr. Pollock, P. D'Arcy Hart and Ian Sutherland entitled "Clinical Assessment of the First
Results of the Medical Research Council's Trial of Tuberculosis Vaccines in Adolescents in Great Britain"
several illuminating statements appear under the heading "Practical Outcome".
"Widespread vaccination at this age should make a worthwhile contribution to a decline in the
incidence of tuberculosis in adolescents aged 13 to 17 years. If protection should last for more than
four years, as seems likely, the decline in tuberculosis in young adults in this country may also be
hastened."
"In association with this general decline of tuberculosis in adolescence, widespread vaccination
of schoolchildren in Britain is likely to produce a selective reduction im miliary tuberculosis and
meningitis - Indeed, the preliminary findings encourage the hope that in future these two types of
tuberculosis will occur very infrequently in adolescents and young adults.