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
Hackney 1952
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hackney]
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17
LABORATORY FACILITIES. The arrangement of many years' standing with the
Camberwell Research Laboratories and the Royal Institute of Public Health and
Hygiene for the carrying out of various bacteriological examinations was
continued.
The following specimens were submitted to these two laboratories:-
| Specimen | Examination for | Result | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Negative | Positive | |||
| Throat and Nose swabs | Diphtheria Bacilli | 165 | - | 165 |
| Haemolytic Streptococci | 33 | 32 | 65 | |
| Vincents Agina | 8 | 1 | 9 | |
| Sputum | Tubercle Bacilli | 13 | 3 | 16 |
| Faeces and Rectal swabs | Dysentery group | 315 | 227 | 542 |
| Pathogens | 127 | 7 | 134 | |
| Salmonella Typhi-murium | 3 | 3 | ||
| Salmonella group | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Shigella Sonne | 50 | 116 | 166 | |
| Vaginal swabs | Gonococci | 4 | - | 4 |
| Urine | B Coli | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Albumen | 8 | - | 8 | |
| Total | 727 | 390 | 1, 117 | |
TUBERCULOSIS. Under the Public Health (Tuberculosis) Regulations, 1930 and
1952, notifications to the number of 241 pulmonary cases and 20 cases of nonpulmonary
were received. Of the respiratory cases, 167 were primary notifications,
that is, cases which had not previously been notified in this Borough
or elsewhere; the primary notifications in the non-pulmonary cases numbered
15. Non-primary notifications totalled 79, of which 74 were pulmonary and 5
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The age grouping was:-
| Age Groups | Primary Notifications | Non-Primary Notifications | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pulmonary | Non-Pulmonary | Pulmonary | Non-Pulmonary | |||||
| Male | Female | Male | Female | Male | Female | Male | Female | |
| 0-1 | 2 | 1 | ||||||
| 1-5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | ||
| 5-15 | 5 | 6 | 2 | - | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| 15-25 | 20 | 21 | 1 | - | 6 | 9 | - | 2 |
| 25-45 | 37 | 24 | 3 | 3 | 23 | 15 | 1 | |
| 45-65 | 31 | 8 | - | 3 | 9 | 2 | - | |
| 65-75 | 5 | 1 | - | - | 2 | - | - | - |
| 75 and upwards | 3 | - | - | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | |
| Total | 105 | 62 | 6 | 9 | 44 | 30 | 1 | 4 |
The sources of information relating to the 79 non-primary notifications
were: -
Death returns:Local
Registrar 15
Registrar General 2
Transfers - from other
areas 62
The attack rate per thousand of the population for all forms of tuberculosis
notified for the first time was 1.06 compared with 1.07 in 1951.
During the year 43 Hackney residents died from the respiratory form of
the disease and 4 from the non-respiratory type in the following age groups:-