Chest surveys of the aged.

Few reports appear in the literature concerning tuberculosis case finding in “Old Folks” homes. Myers4 calls attention to the reservoir of contagious tuberculosis in the aged. Medlar23 reported an increasing incidence of tuberculosis in the “over 50 year” group that came to autopsy during 1940-1945 as compared to a similar group autopsied in 1916-1920 in New York City. In 1942, in 1945 and again in 1949, The Baltimore City Hospitals, Baltimore, Maryland, has held mass chest surveys of Its Infirmary patients. The purpose of this paper is to present information gained from these surveys as they offer material that would probably be characteristic of data obtained through a survey of any public home for the elderly.