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Management of Tuberculosis
For diagnostic purposes, Southall patients are mostly referred either by general
practitioners or from hospital doctors to the Uxbridge Chest Clinic, and if tuberculosis is
found treatment and following-up is instituted from that Clinic. The Tuberculosis Visitor
calls at the home of a patient and submits a copy of her report to the Public Health Department.
Contacts are seen by the Visitor and they have suitable tests, either tuberculin tests
or X-rays, or both, at the Chest Clinic. If sanitary defects or overcrowding are reported
further visiting is carried out from the Public Health Department.
At St. Bernard's Hospital, cases of tuberculosis are isolated in Adelaide Ward, which
has 24 male and 24 female beds. One of the doctors from Uxbridge Chest Clinic continues
to carry out tuberculin testing and B.C.G. vaccination of members of the nursing staff of
the hospital.
B.C.G. Vaccination
B.C.G. vaccination is offered to contacts of cases of tuberculosis, to medical and nursing
staffs of tuberculosis wards, and since 1957, as a result of the findings of the Medical Research
Council in their Tuberculosis Vaccines Clinical Trial, to children aged 13 and over
in Southall schools. Testing with tuberculin is carried out beforehand. The tuberculin
test, if positive, shows that infection has occurred at some time during life, and further
investigation is undertaken to verify whether this is active, chronic or healed infection, as
these all give the same result to the test. When the tuberculin test is negative and in the
absence of disease, B.C.G. inoculations are carried out in order to render the individuals
tuberculin positive and, therefore, to have immunity to infection by the tuberculous bacillus.
The number of children who received B.C.G. through the Chest Clinic was in total
97 during 1959, and the details are as follows:—
New born babies 5
Children under 1 year 20
Children 1-4 years18
Children 5-15 years 37
Over 15 years 17
97

All testing and vaccinating during 1959 under this scheme was carried out in Southall by
the Medical Research Council's staff.
Tuberculosis Vaccines Clinical Trial
During 1959 the Medical Research Council's Vaccines Trial continued in Southall
and in September, 1959, the second progress report of the investigation was published.
This report showed that B.C.G. vaccination confers a very substantial protection against
tuberculosis which persists for at least 7½ years after being given. Vaccination of school
children will, therefore, contribute very substantially to the reduction of tuberculosis in
adolescents and young adults. This assessment of the potentialities of B.C.G. vaccine has
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