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
Kingston upon Thames 1966
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kingston-upon-Thames]
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45
Whilst it is gratifying to notice a further reduction in the
number of cases of tuberculosis, there is no time for complacency.
The living conditions and living standards are continually being
improved. Facilities for early detection of tuberculosis by public
mass X-ray sessions are widely available and more use should be made
of them by the middle aged and elderly, where foci of infection tend
to lie. The new drugs have made treatment relatively easy, provided
they are taken for the full period recommended. To cut short
treatment is to breed drug-resistant tubercle bacilli.
These measures, plus checking of contacts of cases, plus
tuberculin testing of school children and B.C.G. vaccination of
non-reactors, can eliminate tuberculosis - IF EVERYONE IS PREPARED
TO CO-OPERATE. Go for that chest X-ray now.
The following tables show the work undertaken by the Chest Clinic at the Kingston Hospital during 1966 insofar as it affects patients resident in the borough:
| Number of chest clinic sessions held | 380 |
| Number of attendances: | |
| New Patients | 619 |
| Old Patients | |
| Total - 4305 | |
| Average attendances per session | 11.3 |
Tuberculin Tests and B.C . G. Vaccinations
| Contacts | School Children and Students | Others | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skin tested | 185 | 17 | 17 |
| Found positive | 33 | 3 | 9 |
| Found negative | 108 | 2 | 1 |
| Failing to return | 44 | 12 | 7 |
| Vaccinated | 66 | 6 | 3 |