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
Mitcham 1942
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Mitcham]
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36
Prevention of Blindness
By an arrangement with the London County Council cases
of ophthalmia neonatorum can be treated at Whiteoaks Hospital,
Swanley Junction, Kent.
Blind children are looked after by the Surrey Voluntary
Association for the Blind.
Ophthalmia Neonatorum During the year ten cases of ophthalmia neonatorum were notified:—
| Cases Notified | Treated | Vision Unimpaired | Vision Impaired | Total Blindness | Deaths | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| At Home | In Hospital | |||||
| 10 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 1* | nil. | nil. |
| *Child has small scar on left cornea. | ||||||
School Notifications
The school intimation notices of infectious disease are
always compared with the notifications received from the medical
practitioners. If any case on the school return is found to be
unnotified, investigations are made in order to find out if the
patient is receiving medical attention.
The school notices also give fairly accurate estimate of the
prevalence of non-notifiable infectious disease, such as chicken
pox, mumps, etc. The numbers so notified are reported on under
various diseases mentioned earlier in this report.
Cancer.
The number of deaths from cancer registered during the year
was 104, of which .50 were males and 54 were females.
Cancer is mainly a disease of the digestive system, with the
exception of its preference for the generative system in females.
The site distribution for 1942 was as follows:—
Digestive organs 18 cases
Genito-urinary organs 9 „
Breast 11 „
Other sites 66 „
Total 104 „