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TU3ERCULOSIS
During the year 66 new cases were added to the register of tuberculous
persons compared with 56 in I960 and 70 in 1959.
Of the 66 additions 39 were primary notifications, 24 were transferred
from other areas, and 3 were un-notified deaths.
An analysis of the notifications received is given overleaf.

At the end of the year, after taking into account all the additions and
deletions there were 451 cases remaining on the tuberculosis register, a drop
of 21 on the previous year. 401 were cases of pulmonary tuberculosis and 50
cases of non-pulmonary tuberculosis.
New notifications of pulmonary tuberculosis amounted to 34, an increase of
8 over the previous year, compared with an average of 32 in the last five years.
This increase in notifications was due to an outbreak of tuberculosis which
occurred in a County school outside Wimbledon, when 14 primary cases of tuberculosis
were discovered among pupils. Eight of the infected pupils lived in
Wimbledon.
There were 3 deaths from all forms of tuberculosis which represents a death
rate of 0.05 per 1000 population compared with 0.08 in the previous year, and
0.07 for England and Wales. The steady improvement in the death rate from
pulmonary tuberculosis is encouraging, but it is essential that continued vigilance
is maintained particularly in schools where one teacher may unwittingly
infect a group of pupils.
While treatment of tuberculosis by modem drugs has completely altered the
a3pects of this disease, it is necessary to remember that there are still a large
number of cases on the register receiving treatment and attention at the Chest
Clinic, and breakdown and infectivity in such cases is always a possibility.
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