[Report 1924] / Medical Officer of Health, Monmouthshire County Council.
- Monmouthshire County Council
- Date:
- 1924
Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Credit: [Report 1924] / Medical Officer of Health, Monmouthshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![Retrospect of Ten Years’ Work. The work of tliis area during the past year has not varied in essential features from that of those which have gone before; and t]ie description of it may reasonably form paid of a retrospect of the last ten years. But before entering upon any consideration of details of manner and results of working, the effects of the awful world war should he home in mind. Physically and psychi^illy, as well as financially, the tuberculosis campaign of the Association has been afiected to a degree that it is difficult at present ro estimiate, and we cannot hut express admiration for the determination and perspicuity of those who have been at it^ head. In the first winter of the war, many folk, doctors included, said, “ Close it down and send the staff into tnc service,” which was indeed joined by a good half of them. The answer to this cry was the Beechwood Hospital for tuberculous Seiwice men, where so much good work wtas done; and the work, ever on the increase, went on with a depleted staff, who carried on without grumbling. More than 10,000 new cases ha,\e been examined in the West Monmouth- shire area during the ten years, and, save for the two bad years of the war, the percentage of positive cases has steadily decreased, as the number examined has increased. It is true that a great number of young children have been sent to us who had no signs and symptoms of tuberculosis, but this was erring on the right side. Knowing too well that the attaching of a label of tuberculosis would be a disability for all time, one has often hesitated to apply it, and thought it best to keep the child under observation and a^dvising treatment .as required. Our liaison with the school medical service has grown closer and more efficient year by year, and it is difficult now for a tubercular child to escape observation and appropriate treatment. Two disappointing groups have to be mentioned, the number of practically hopeless cases that have come up from time to time, and the large number who have died of the disease without coming to our notice. This unfortunate state of affairs ought to remedy itself in time, for a truly compulsoiy notifica- tion ought tO' help in bringing- forward more early cases. Another fly in the ointment ” bias been the paucity of the so-called sanatorium case, the early case in which arrest of disease was to be expected. More than ample provision has been made in our Sanatoria for this class of case, which is rarer than was expected, not only by the staff of oiir Association, but by similar workers in all parts of the world. Perhaps one may account for this rarity of appeiarance by recounting one’s observation of a number of children who, in ten years, have attained to manhood and womanhood. The Von Pirciuet Test has been dene in nearly all cases, and tbe results are interesting, especially in those who gave a more or less positive renction.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28861449_0029.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
