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Ophthalmia Neonatorum.—When a case is notified the
District Health Visitor visits the house and ascertains
whether the child is under medical treatment. If so, she
endeavours to find out if treatment is being satisfactorily
carried out, and assists the mother to carry it out. If the
child is not being attended by a doctor she advises that the
child should be taken to the Eye Clinic,a where appropriate
treatment is given, the Health Visitor visiting at the home
to help and advise the mother as to the curative measures
to be adopted. Some cases which are not notified are discovered
bv the Health Visitors in their visits under the
m
Notification of Births Act, 1907. In these cases the same
procedure is followed.
Measles and Whooping Cough.—These diseases are
not compulsorily notifiable, and cases come to the knowledge
of the Health Department usually through head teachers.
In this way 539 cases of measles and 708 of whooping
cough were notified during 1914. Children are excluded
from school under Regulations adopted by the Education
Committee, and appearing on pp. 150 and 151 of my Annual
Report for 1913.
No provision exists for the treatment of these diseases
in hospital, although it is desirable that hospital treatment
for the worst cases should be provided, for the following
reasons:—
(1) During the year 5 deaths occurred from scarlet fever,
24 from diphtheria, and 3 from enteric fever, for which
diseases hospital accommodation is provided, while 8 deaths
occurred from measles and 34 from whooping cough.
(2) The death rate from scarlet fever, enteric fever, and
diphtheria has declined generally during the past twenty
years, since the provision of isolation hospitals, but in
respect of measles and whooping cough the death rate