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PREVENTION OF ILLNESS, CARE AND AFTER-CARE
The work under this Section of the Act is mainly concerned with
Tuberculosis and I am indebted to Dr. H. Duff-Palmer. Consultant
Physician to the Wanstead and Woodford Chest Clinic at Harts
Hospital for the following report:—
During the year under review, twenty-nine new cases of tuberculosis
were notified as compared with thirty-two in 1958. One hundred and
sixty-five new contacts and seven hundred and fifty-one old contacts
were examined. B.C.G. was given to ninety children, an increase of
twenty-six on the previous year. Three thousand eight hundred and
fifty-one X-ray examinations were carried out. It is interesting to note
that sixty notified cases of tuberculosis were transferred into the area,
as compared with twenty-eight notified cases transferred out.
In my previous reports, I have constantly referred to the importance
of contact examinations and the following cases may be of interest
in this connection:—
(1) A child of four and a half months examined as a contact to her
father, who had pulmonary tuberculosis, was found to have a
primary tuberculous lung lesion. She was immediately
admitted to a Children's Sanatorium and has done very well.
(2) A girl, aged 19 years, was followed up as a contact to her father
and brother, who were both notified as cases of pulmonary
tuberculosis in 1954. She herself was found to have pulmonary
tuberculosis in 1959 and was given hospital treatment. This
case emphasises the importance of prolonged supervision in
certain cases.
(3) Another similar case is one where a child aged 2½ years was
found to have primary lung tuberculosis in 1959. Her mother
was treated for pulmonary tuberculosis in 1954 and after the
child was born, B.C.G. was offered but unfortunately the
parents refused.
(4) The final case to be described is one of unusual interest. A boy
aged 9 years was admitted to a local hospital and was treated
for pleurisy. He returned home and within a few weeks, his
sister developed pleurisy. At that stage, I was then asked to
see the children and examination at the Chest Clinic revealed
that they both suffered from tuberculous pleurisy. Arrangements
were made for them to be admitted to a Children's
Sanatorium. Routine examination of the parents revealed the
father to be suffering from chronic pulmonary tuberculosis of
an infectious type.
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