[Report 1925] / Medical Officer of Health, Reading County Borough.

  • Reading (England). County Borough Council.
Date:
1925
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1925] / Medical Officer of Health, Reading County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    29/88 (page 29)
    TUBERCULOSIS. The number of deaths assigned to tuberculosis lias this year fallen to a lower point than ever before reached. For many years the incidence of tuberculosis had shewn a steady fall until the latter end of the war period. Since the war, the subsequent social conditions have had a distinct effect in lessening the rate of decline, and for five years the prevalence of the disease as measured by deaths has been almost stationary. Tuberculosis is a disease essentially dependent on adverse social conditions. The following table shews the notifications and deaths from both forms of the disease since 1918 :— Year. Number of cases notified. Number of deaths. Pulmonary. Non-pulmonary. Pulmonary. Non-pulmona ry. 1918 167 18 115 20 1919 123 13 81 12 1920 108 10 75 16 1921 106 36 82 15 1922 125 11 81 19 1923 112 22 93 16 1924 124 16 90 7 1925 119 11 74 12 Notification. If there is to be any hope of permanent recovery from tuberculosis it is essential that the condition should be recognized and brought under treatment at the earliest possible moment. Although the Council has provided a scheme for early treatment in sanatoria, it is a fact that a large proportion of cases is brought to the knowledge of the depart¬ ment too late to take advantage of it. During the year 27 cases were not notified at all and information of their existence was only found from the returns of deaths furnished by the Registrar. A certain number of these cases had received some treatment in poor law institutions, but such treat¬ ment is usually in the final phases. The absence of notification deprives these patients of the home treatment and supervision which is necessary before their admission to institutions and at any period during which they may return home. A further 18 were notified less than three months, and 8 less than six months before death. The duration of the disease usually extends over several years, so that it is clear that in just over one-half of the total number of fatal cases not only was any hope of permanent cure rendered impossible, but these patients had each a prolonged opportunity of con¬ veying the infection to others. Unfortunately the onset of the disease is often insidious and only in the later stages does the patient seek medical advice. Nevertheless, even in the later stages notification of the disease is important with a view to isolation of the patient when necessary and to ensure supervision and prevention of infection. The scheme for dealing with tuberculosis in the borough embraces the following units :— (a) The Tuberculosis dispensary with daily medical consultations. (b) Sanatorium treatment for suitable cases in both adults and children— average number under treatment, 20-30.