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
Walthamstow 1952
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Walthamstow]
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55
As each new case of pulmonary tuberculosis has been notified,
enquiry has been made as to the infectivity of the patient. Of 98
cases investigated, 43 were sputum positive on notification or soon
after, 41 were negative and 14 were inconclusive for the following
reasons:—
No sputum 12
Tests incomplete 1
Notified after death 1
There was a history of tuberculosis in near relatives in 14
cases.
The 22 deaths represent a death rate of 0.18 per 1,000 population
(England and Wales, 0.24).
New cases in 1951 were 123 with 37 deaths—a rate of 0.31.
The returns for the past two years are compared below
| Year | New Cases | Deaths | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pulmonary | Non-Pulmonary | Total | Pulmonary | Non-Pulmonary | Total | |||||
| M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | |||
| 1952 | 53 | 47 | 5 | 10 | 115 | 16 | 6 | - | - | 22 |
| 1951 | 64 | 44 | 11 | 4 | 123 | 25 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 37 |
The period elapsing between notification and death and the number of cases not notified were as follows :—
| Under 3 months | 3 to 6 months | 6 to 9 months | 9 to 12 months | Over 12 months | Not notified | Notified after death | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pill. | Non-Pul. | Pul. | Non-Pul. | Pul. | Non-Pul. | Pul. | Non-Pul. | Pul. | Non-Pul. | Pul. | Non-Pul. | Pul. | Non-Pul. |
| 3 | — | 1 | — | 2 | — | — | — | 12 | — | 3 | — | 1 | — |
The ratio of deaths in non-notified cases (i.e., columns to the
right of the double line) to total deaths from tuberculosis was
1 to 5.5.
Fall in Tuberculosis Mortality.
The reduction in deaths from 37 in 1951 to 22 in 1952 is in
keeping with general experience, and the following extract from
The Lancet" of May 9th, 1953, is of interest:—
"Figures published by the World Health Organisation
demonstrate the remarkable fall in tuberculosis mortality that