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70
HEALTH OF SCHOLARS IN PUBLIC ELEMENTARY
SCHOOLS.
Non-Notifiable Infectious Diseases Intimated
from the Schools.
The only knowledge possessed of the cases of non-notifiable
infectious diseases is that derived from the intimations of the
School Teachers and Attendance Officers, and from the enquiries
made upon receipt of these intimations.
The system instituted under the scheme for the Hygienic
Control of Schools in 1903, and appended to my Annual Report
for that year, has yielded the most useful results. As the benefits
resulting from the system are more intelligently appreciated by
the teachers, there is greater promptitude in excluding and
notifying scholars suspected of suffering from infectious conditions.
The suspicion entertained that the apparently drastic
method of exclusion would encroach seriously upon the level of
school attendance, has yielded before the striking improvement
which has resulted in this respect during the operation of the
scheme.
A large number of notifications are received each morning
from the schools. These are investigated, instructions to prevent
further spread are issued to the parents, exclusion or re-admission
notices are sent to the schools, the origin and spread of an
outbreak among classes or schools are traced, and the timely
closure of a class or department rendered possible. There are
many indications of the growth of a "health conscience " among