A memorandum on bovine tuberculosis in man : with special reference to infection by milk.

  • Great Britain. Ministry of Health.
Date:
1931
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A memorandum on bovine tuberculosis in man : with special reference to infection by milk. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    solid medium is injected intravenously into rabbits ; this effect is not produced by the same dose of the human bacillus. In spite of these differences between the human and bovine varieties of the tubercle bacillus, it has been amply demonstrated that man can be infected with the bovine, as well as with the human, type of the tubercle bacillus, and, in fact, many fatal cases of tuber- culosis in man are due to infection with the bovine variety of the organism. Itis in children especially that the bovine bacillus is found, and there is no doubt that a considerable amount of the tuberculosis of childhood is due to infection with bacilli of this type conveyed in milk from tuberculous cows. The extent of this infection will be discussed later. 1.—The Incidence of Human Tuberculosis in England and Wales. It is not possible to form an exact estimate of the incidence of human tuberculosis in this country from the figures for notified cases, which, however complete, do not take account of duplications and omissions; at the same time it is generally admitted that notification of the disease has undergone much improvement in recent years. Many new cases, moreover, come to the knowledge of Medical Officers of Health otherwise than by formal notification, and these additional cases are included in the figures for the years from 1923 onwards, given below, causing an apparent increase in the incidence of the disease. The following table, therefore, gives only an approximate idea of the incidence of tuberculosis in England and Wales. TABLE I. England and Wales. New Cases of Tuberculosis. Year. Pulmonaty.| Non-pulmonary. | Total all forms. EGTS Uta Sie 7 80,788 36,351 117,139 i914... aut rae 76,109 23,388 99,497 Ta DOW wxck as ay 68,309 22,283 90,592 SULG 2%. re ee 68,109 22,799 90,908 CW eee =< awa 68,801 20,884 89,685 LOS if)... ae a 71,631 18,942 90,573 i 1) Beer ah ae 61,154 16,357 77,616 Ror 57,844 15,488 73,332 Ruat cs re ie 56,334 15,368 71,702 WaPanAlAnuT. Lec yy, 53,422 15,837 69,259 1092 teem ul ietinrka- 59,172 20,216 79,388 1924 .... Sse +f 60,747 20,411 81,158 1G ec eee 60,770: 20,667 81,437 LeeO cons re “eg 59,520 20,134 79,654 weaned dgeIs ory 58,109 19,781 77,890 LOSS canas np he 57,682 20,199 77,881 g920 0S 1 nas 57,274 18,682 75,956 ne Rr ne