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Defects of Ears, Nose and Throat
The number of children who failed the sweep test of hearing
in school showed a slight reduction compared with previous years.
It is possible that this reflects slightly different standards
of acceptable response by the audiometricians since there have
been changes of staff during the year. The current figure of 8%
is still considerably in excess of the anticipated incidence of
significant hearing defects in the Borough. Children who fail
the sweep test are examined in greater detail and if a real
hearing loss is confirmed, they are seen by one of the school
medical officers who decides whether further investigation is
appropriate.
The number of children found to be suffering from middle ear
disease (otitis media) at school medical inspections has shown
a marked increase during 1965. It is disturbing to note that the
acute episodes of this condition which were so familiar before
the discovery of penicillin and sulphonamides have apparently
been replaced by the development of sub-acute cases in which the
infection may not be finally eradicated. In 1963 three general
practitioners reported a series of 218 attacks of acute otitis
media (Lancet 2 p. 1129) and showed that almost one-third had
not been cured at the end of one month and that six months
later only 23% of those children followed up were completely
normal. Recently a further survey in general practice (Brit.
med. J. (1966) I P. 75) has shown that following an attack of
acute otitis media, a considerable number of children spend an
appreciable period of time with a deafness which can affect