Show POVERTY AND tuberculosis poverty and tuberculosis tube I 1 a tuberculosis tut arcu and poverty these are the essential facts facia which force themselves to the attention of every investigator who faces the problem of that disease the tenement house district ot of ci i cinnoti yields a tuberculosis morbidity just three times as great as the areas where better housing prevails in families in ia which tuberculosis existed the average monthly income tor for a family of four was approximately W 7 after paying the share tor for tood food and rent a balance or of ra r for each individual to meet all other expenses such a low subsistence level works like black magic n the spread ot of tuberculosis moreover and this is a point over which the public should ponder the home of the average wage earner was found to be for far less sanitary than the average factory and workshop in regard to ill all the factors which make for healthful living ventilation sufficient light proper temperature and freedom from overcrowding the score was in favor of 0 the factory in nearly every instance the city ot of cincinnati realized that her tuberculosis death rate was fo 0 pe per cent above the average and that it had failed to maui manifest fest a tendency to decline she felt no qualms in making this admission rather she determined ter mined that she would learn why with an efficient health department and favorable climatic influence she was suffering from twice the mortality from that disease as her neighbor pittsburgh accordingly the audited state public health service was requested to make a thorough study rt cf the situation and submit a report to show that something more than mere academic interest inte iest obtained workers in fac factories tores of the city voluntarily submitted to a physical examination the conclusions reached point directly to the close connection between poverty and tuberculosis the great factor underlying the entire problem was seemingly that of economic conditions dit ions one sixth of all tuberculosis cases came from cheap lodging houses alcoholism was a prominent cause and often accelerated the course of the disease occupational hazards ani bad working conditions were apparently responsibly responsible for about 20 per cent of 0 the cases but in the majority of instances the these hazards were vere not necessarily inherent in the occupation previous tuberculosis in the family occurred in practically a third of all the cases investigated dissipation overcrowding bad housing and innate lack of personal responsibility were also listed as causes an interesting feature of the report and one which has not previously been dwelt upon in studies of this character relates to the effect of immigration and the rate of growth odthe of the population of a city upon the tuberculosis death rate it is shown that cities with a population composed largely of racial stock having a limited resistance to tuberculosis are subject to a high mortality rate from that disease while centers having a slow rate of population increase are likewise subject to a high tuberculosis rate tho the evidence is submitted in a comparative table tabIe covering sixteen american cities almost without exception thoss those with a high percentage of irish scandinavian din di avian and german stock and those in which the negro population is rel relatively i large have a correspondingly high mortality while those where the I 1 tallan italian and jewish element is proportionately tiona tely great have a low tuberculosis death rate similarly such cities PS ns detroit and cleveland with high rates of population increase show a low tuberculosis mortality while cincinnati cincinnat nati and baltimore with a relatively small population increase have a ahli tuberculosis rate doubtless the true explanation of this discrepancy is that advanced by the authors namely that where the population increase is rapid new buildings are erected to take the place of old structures and better housing conditions prevail |