Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Battersea Borough]
This page requires JavaScript
98
The attention of the Council was also drawn to a provision
contained in the Liverpool Corporation Act, 1936, by which the
sale or exposure for sale of secondhand furniture, mattresses, &c.,
infested with bed bugs is prohibited, and feeling that this was a
valuable means of limiting the transmission of vermin, asked the
Metropolitan Boroughs Standing Joint Committee to take the
necessary steps to promote legislation for the purpose.
Particulars of the action of the Council in regard to verminous
persons is to be found under the next heading.
Personal Cleansing Station.
During the year 1938 there were 3,808 children and 432 adults
cleansed and treated at the station. Of the children, 1,411 were
suffering from scabies or itch, a contagious parasitic skin affection.
The remainder were verminous. Of these children 3,723 attended
from the public elementary schools in the Borough by arrangement
with the London County Council, who have entered into a contract
with the Borough Council for the use of their Personal Cleansing
station. The cleansing and treatment of the school children is
carried out under the supervision of officers of the London County
Council, while the disinfestation of the clothing and (if necessary)
of the homes is carried out concurrently by the Borough Council's
sanitary staff.
The following table shows the number of persons cleansed and treated at the Personal Cleansing station and the expenditure incurred since 1906, the year in which the cleansing of verminous persons was begun :—
Year. | Adults. | Children. | *Expenditure | *Amount Contributed. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Verminous and Scabies. | Verminous and Scabies. | £ | £ | |
* Financial year ending 31st March. Other columns, calendar year.