London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
East Ham 1961
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for East Ham]
This page requires JavaScript
Continued from previous page...
| Male | Female | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other abnormalities revealed | |||
| Abnormalities of the bony thorax and soft tissues - congenital | 6 | 7 | 13 |
| Abnormalities of the bony thorax and soft tissues - acquired | 28 | 41 | 69 |
| Tumours of the bony thorax - primary and secondary | — | 1 | 1 |
| Congenital malformations of the lungs | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Bacterial and virus infections of the lungs | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| Bronchiectasis | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Emphysema | 3 | — | 3 |
| Pulmonary fibrosis - non-tuberculous | 16 | 7 | 23 |
| Pneumoconiosis | — | 1 | 1 |
| Benign tumours of the lungs and mediastinum | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Carcinoma of the lung and mediastinum | 11 | 2 | 13 |
| Sarcoidosis and collagenous diseases | - | 2 | 2 |
| Pleural thickening or calcification - non-tuberculous | 34 | 15 | 49 |
| Abnormalities of the diaphragm and oesophagus - congenital and acquired | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| Congenital abnormalities of heart and vessels | 1 | - | 1 |
| Acquired abnormalities of heart and vessels | 16 | 28 | 44 |
| Miscellaneous | 4 | 7 | 11 |
| Totals | 207 | 187 | 394 |
The following note is extracted from a short account of the clinical follow up of the cases of
tuberculosis "revealed" by the Mass Radiography Unit Survey (11th September - 12th October 1961).
"In the first place 11 of the 14 cases of active tuberculosis were East Ham residents and
came to our notice in due course. Of these, one was a known and notified case of tuberculosis
already on treatment and attending the clinic, so he should not have been attending Mass X-ray.
One of the females was an old case of tuberculous gland in the neck who had been seen and
treated many years ago elsewhere and was found to have minimal disease in her lung. Two others
were contacts of tuberculosis. One male was a contact of a fellow worker and one female was the
contact of her sister who was found to have tuberculosis at the same unit on the 1st September and
was notified here on the 25th September. One female was an Irish immigrant who had been
working very long hours in a Public House. Four of the cases did subsequently move out of the
area and I cannot give you much in the way of details but I do know that all had minimal disease
considered active on radiological appearances. Only two out of ten cases sent to us from the
Mass X-ray Unit who were not previously known to be tuberculous had positive sputa.
I think that the trend is very satisfactory. It may be that we do notify cases in the early
stages of the disease rather than wait until She sputum is positive as I feel that it is extremely
important that treatment should be initiated early and under adequate supervision.
For your interest, of the bronchial carcinomata only six were referred to us. Of these
four have died, one had a left lower lobectomy and remains well and working and one had a
lobectomy and was well and working until three months ago when he suddenly developed a
paraplegia due to spinal metastasis. Of those who died three had evidence of peripheral metastasis
at their first attendance and one was confirmed to be inoperable at thoracotomy.
(signed) Audrey Hanson
Chest Physician."