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61
Swabs from Medical Officer of Health :—
Positive (Diphtheria) 1
Negative (Hoffmann's bacillus) 3
Negative 8
Total 12
Total number of Swabs, 284.
Sputa.—97 specimens of sputum from patients suspected
of suffering from Phthisis were examined, with the
following result :—
From practitioners—
Tubercle bacilli present 28 or 31.5 per cent.
Tubercle bacilli not found 61 or 68.5 per cent.
From School Medical Officer—
Tubercle bacilli present —
Tubercle bacilli not found 7
From Medical Officer of Health—
Tubercle bacilli present —
Tubercle bacilli not found 1
The detection of the specific organism of Tuberculosis
(bacillus tuberculosis) in the sputum is a certain method
of diagnosing Pulmonary Tuberculosis. The test is a delicate
one, and is especially useful when the clinical symptoms are
not sufficient to diagnose the disease with certainty. It is
in the earliest stages of the disease that the method is most
useful. Here the symptoms may be only slight, and the
doctor may rightly hesitate before diagnosing Phthisis. With
the detection of the Tuberculosis bacillus the diagnosis is at
once certain and treatment can be commenced at once. This
is of great importance, because it is these very early cases
that are most readily cured. In a similar manner the disappearance
of tubercle bacilli from the sputum affords information
the disease is undergoing cure. The presence or