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27. It is interesting in view of the School Board's letters to
record the fact that this school was closed in 1894 on the
recommendation of Dr. Priestly, my locum tenens, on account
of an outbreak of Scarlet Fever. At that time on different
occasions Dr. Priestly and I examined children in the school
and detected cases of Scarlet Fever in actual attendance. On
the reassembling of the school I examined the whole of the
children to see that they were free of infection. No objection
was then taken to such examinations being made, and it is
obvious that in the interests of education as well as of health
it is desirable that any unsuspected cases of infectious disease
should be detected, and so the necessity of closure of the
school be prevented. If the parents objected, or were likely to
object to such examinations, it would be reasonable for the
Board to exercise their undoubted right to refuse them; but
my experience convinces me that nine tenths of the parents
are only too glad for such measures to be taken; I have never
heard of any objection being made except by those whose
children were detected at school in an infectious state, and
consequently prevented from attending, and their objections
must surely not be regarded.
28. I have little doubt that when the School Board come
to seriously study this subject the above considerations must
have due weight with them, and I think there is good reason
to hope that they will in future, as in the past, seek to facilitate
the examination of school children by Health Officers, or
perhaps they may adopt an even better course and appoint certain
special medical men to systematically examine children in
schools as is done in New York and other places, for it cannot
be denied that schools are largely concerned in the spread of
the infection of many diseases besides Scarlet Fever.
There were a few cases of Scarlet Fever at Conway Road