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As a result the following procedure was agreed to :-
The Nurse visiting the schools will send printed instructions to the
parents of any child found in a verminous condition as to the simplest
and quickest mode of cleansing and disinfection.
If, at the end of 48 hours, the nurse finds the child in the same
unsatisfactory state, the parents will be warned that unless the child is
cleansed at home it will be done in a compulsory manner under the
provisions of Section 122, sub-section 2, of the Children Act, 1908.
An experimental disinfecting station provided with a sterilizer and
bath has been installed by the County Council at Finch Street School,
situated in Whitechapel, near the City boundary, and the Council have
asked the Corporation to co-operate with them by dealing with the
homes, bedding, &c., of all children residing in the City who have been
cleansed at this Station. The names and addresses of all children
cleansed under this arrangement will be forwarded to your Medical
Officer of Health,
This system will be of great value in the prevention of the spread of
school infection, and will, moreover, furnish the Corporation with a new
source of information as to houses which require sanitary supervision.
The cleansing of the bodies and clothing of children will be of but little
lasting value unless the condition of their environment be dealt with at the
same time. The care and control of the sanitary condition of the homes
of school children is one of the most important duties of a Sanitary Authority,
but hitherto there has been a practical difficulty in obtaining information
except through the costly and necessarily inefficient system of house to
house inspection. If the experimental system of the Education Authority
works satisfactorily, it will be welcomed as one more link in the chain of
sanitary efficiency.
I may add that by arrangement with the Council in February, 1907,
verminous school children resident in the City had hitherto been cleansed at
the Thavies Inn Dep6t, under an agreement entered into by the Corporation
and the City of London Union Authorities under the Cleansing of Persons
Act.