London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Croydon 1909
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Croydon]
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88
the. number showing actual live vermin at the time of inspection.
As previously pointed oat most children are specially cleansed for
the medical inspection, and some of the worst cases are actuallykept
from school to avoid detection. The extent of this trouble too
varies with the school and with the season. Thus, during the
autumn, surprise visits to Princess Road and Boston Road Schools
gave the following results :—
TABLE E V.
| School. | Class. | No. Examined. | Heads | Vermin of the Body. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vermin. Nits only. | ||||||
| Princess Road | I. | Boys | 24 | 9 | 5 | |
| Infants' | Girls | 6 | 9 | 3 | ||
| III. | Boys | 23 | 5 | |||
| Girls | 7 | 8 | 5 | |||
| Total | 85 | 22 | 32 | 19 | ||
| Boston Road | I. | Boys | 5 | 7 | 4 | |
| Infants' | Girls | 30 | 3 | |||
| III. | Girls only | 29 | 13 | |||
| Total | 30 | |||||
In addition to head and body vermin most of the Princess Road
and Boston Road children were badly infested with fleas. Of this
no figures were extracted, though the condition is obviously injurious
and objectionable.
On the other hand, in many schools the percentage of dirty
children is quite small, and even Princess Road and Boston Road
would have given more favourable results at another time of year.
It is well known that many children attending these schools are
neglected during the hopping season.
During the year the method of dealing with unclean conditions
was the subject of a special report, together with numerous supplementary
reports. As a result, the Committee decided to avail