London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Lewisham 1956

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Lewisham Borough]

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ScabiesTable 12continued

CasesContactsTreatments
Children under 53_6
School children7215
Adults11224
TOTALS21445

London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1953
Section 43 of the above Act states that, on receipt of a report from
the medical officer of health or a sanitary inspector that any aged
person within their district is verminous or is for any other reason in
need of cleansing in order to prevent injury or the danger of injury
and is so enfeebled that he is unable to avail himself of any facilities
for cleansing himself provided by the authority or to cleanse himself
properly, the sanitary authority may on the application or with the
consent of that person (but not otherwise) cause him to be cleansed free
of charge at the place where he resides or at any other suitable place.
The authority is enabled to make such arrangements and provide any
apparatus required to exercise these powers.
No persons received treatment during the year.
Anti-fly and Anti-mosquito campaign
As in previous years four men were employed, working in pairs.
The campaign was held from April 30 to September 28 and Mr.
Phillips, the deputy senior sanitary inspector who is in charge of antipest
work, reports:—"416 bombed sites, grass verges and rear garage
ways were visited on 4 occasions each and necessary treatment was
carried out by spraying or the use of powder. The material collected or
destroyed on the sites consisted of 107 mattresses and approximately 8
tons of miscellaneous articles such as carpets, linoleum, furniture,
clothing, and cushions. 60 gallons of paraffin were used in the
destruction of this material on the sites. As in previous years, a
remarkably large quantity of bread was also found, a positive encouragement
to rats."
The cooperation of the Borough Engineer's department was once
again available for the treatment of dustbins with a powder supplied
by the health department. The powder contained gammexane and was
applied to dustbins at the time of refuse collection. Altogether some 4
tons of powder containing 0.5 percent gamma benzene hexachloride was
used.
7 stables or piggeries, 11 allotment sites, and one plot of land known
to be particularly bad as a rubbish tip were treated as special sites and
visited on 22 occasions each, particular attention being paid to the manure
receptacles at the stables and piggeries and the compost heaps on the
allotments. Throughout the campaign regular visits were paid to