[Report 1947] / Medical Officer of Health, Birkenhead County Borough.
- Birkenhead (England). County Borough Council.
- Date:
- 1947
Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Credit: [Report 1947] / Medical Officer of Health, Birkenhead County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.
14/62 page 12
![TUBERCULOSIS Dr. E. Blackstock, Seuior Assistant Medicnl Officer, ho !i; s been responsible for the work at the Tuberculosis ( linif*, ai:.;! lor the treatment of tuberculous patients in the AJnnici])al Hos}>ital, ha- i})- rnitted the following report: — The Tuberculosis Service continued, as in former years, to ft^el tlit- need for more sanatoria beds. 'I'o help the delay in obtaining treat- ment, 35 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis received their pneumothorax inductions at the Municipal Hospital. During the year a total of 147 patients were admitted to the wards for tuberculosis. Most of these were cases of a chronic type and it is felt that other accommodation for early cases must be sought at the Infectious Diseases Hospital, where the mixing of chronic and early cases could be avoided, as one has a bad influence on the other when nursed in the same ward. Jt is hoped soon to make the reception of these cases possible at the Infectious Diseases Hospital. Out of a total of 1,384 new cases examined at the Chest Clinic 231 were found to be suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis, a decrease of 3 compared with 1946. Unfortunately there were 10 more children found with pulmonary lesions than the previous year. 1,160 re-exam- inations of cases previously found to be suffering from tuberculosis were carried out during the year, and 998 interviews regarding domestic problems and after-care. Many cases suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis were found to be living in overcrowded conditions at home and contact w’as made with the Housing Manager and other accommodation w^as found for many of these unfortunate people. All contacts to patients with pulmonary disease were Mantoux tested and those showing a positive reaction were sent for X-ray exam- ination. The parents of Mantoux negatives were warned of the danger. Some of these children were admitted to the Orthopaedic Hospital for Children for observation and further testing for evidence of tubercu- losis. It is felt that the Mantoux negative child should be taken fi-om an infected home until the patient can be accommodated in a sana- torium or hospital and rendered sputum negative. With the present housing difficulties and shortage of bed accommodation in institutions many children must become liable to direct infection from a parent or relative contact with active disease. It is hoped that soon B.C.G. will be available for these Mantoux-negative contacts of tuberculous parents. It is felt that with good accommodation available at the Infectious Diseases Hospital every effort should be made to acquire adequate nursing staff to set up an ‘ ad hoc ’ treatment centre. With 138 deaths from tuberculosis in Birkenhead it is necessary to have this number of beds available for their treatment. At the moment there is not half that number of sanatoria beds available. One can only hope this unsatisfactory state of affairs will be ended under the National Health Service in the near future. New Gases (a) Pulmonary—The number of notifications of the pulmonary type of tuberculosis shows a slight decrease; 231 as compared with 234 in 1946. There has been an increase in the case of pulmonary children; 23 as compared with 18 in 1946.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28927412_0016.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
