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98
1897]
SICKNESS IN SCHOOLS.
Careful inquiries into every case of infectious disease, notified
under the provisions of the Public Health (London) Act 1891, disclosed
the fact that 1,070 were in attendance at the elementary public
schools. Of these patients 753 suffered from Scarlet Fever, 267 from
Diphtheria, 38 from Enteric Fever, and 12 from other ailments.
The accompanying table gives the particulars for each school.
The returns do not show that any disease was particularly prevalent in
any particular school, if an exception be made of Pooles Park Board
School, where no less than 31 scholars were attacked with Diphtheria
which disease also seized on 17 children who lived in houses from which
scholars attended the school. These cases did not, however, break out
simultaneously but were distributed over the year.
1st Quarter 4 Scholars 5 Non-Scholars.
2nd „ 6 ,, 5 „
3rd „ 10 „ 4 „
4th „ 11 „ 3 „
So far as the notifiable diseases were concerned, no circumstance
arose which called for interference with the schools, but with regard
to Measles, which is not a notifiable disease, the Public Health Committee
acting as the Sanitary Authority called on the Managers to
close the Infants' Departments of Trinity Street, Pooles Park and
Upper Hornsey Road Board Schools, and of St. Anne's Church School.
It will be recollected that in the Annual Report for 1896 particular
attention was drawn to the conduct of the School Board for London
with respect to this disease. After the correspondence that then
occurred between the Local Government Board, the Education Department,
the School Board, and the Vestry one could scarcely be prepared
after so short a period for another failure of the School Board Officials
to carry out the instructions of their code. And yet this is exactly
what happened! With the addition that when the names and addresses
of the Scholars in attendance at the Infant Department of Trinity
School were required for the purpose of visiting their homes, to ascertain
how far Measles still existed in them, the information was refused; and