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verminous conditions.
41
VERMINOUS CONDITIONS.
The Medical Officer of Health of the County has supplied a table showing the frequency of infestation
by vermin in children attending the public elementary schools during the past year. The School
Nurses made 44,857 examinations of children during the school year, and reported the finding of
vermin after 5,779 (12.8 per cent.) of the examinations. The 12.8 per cent. found verminous comprised
3.9 with live vermin in the hair of the heads, 8.4 with nits, and 0.5 with vermin elsewhere than
in the head. Of the examinations in the boys' departments, 1.6 per cent. revealed verminous conditions,
of those in girls' departments, 7.8, and of those in infants' departments, 3.6.
In the Council's Schools, the percentage of reports of vermin was 11.3 of all children examined,
including 8.0 per cent. with nits only, the total percentages in the various departments being: Boys',
1.4; girls', 5.7; infants', 2.6. In the Voluntary Schools the total percentage was 14.5, that
of nits 8.9, and those (totals) of the departments : Boys', 1.7; girls', 9.9; infants, 5.7.
In one Council School the total percentage was 32.4, and in another 26.1, but if nit cases be
excluded the percentages are reduced to 5.3 and 12.0 respectively. In 3 Voluntary Schools the total
percentages were 29.6, 28.2 and 22.5, or, excluding nit cases, 11.6, 14.5 and 6.5.
In spite of the high proportions of verminous conditions disclosed by the foregoing figures only 4
children were reported as absent from school on account of vermin.
Verminous school children are dealt with under the provisions of Section 36 of the London County
Council (General Powers) Act, 1907, which empower the Council to take children to a cleansing station
if parents neglect to comply with Notices requiring cleansing served under that Section. When
children are dealt with under that Section, the School Medical Officer informs the Medical Officer of
Health of the Borough, and asks for the homes of the children to be inspected and dealt with as required.
Last year 57 such forms were received, 49 for vermin and 8 for scabies.
Verminous conditions in school children almost invariably imply not only verminous infestation
of the homes, but also of some, at least, of the other members of the children's families. Verminous
homes, bedding, etc., can be dealt with by the Department under Sections 9-14 of the London County
Council (General Powers) Act, 1922, which repealed (and amended) the provisions of the Council's Act
of 1904. For dealing with infestation of persons no provision had been made until last year, the
Cleansing of Persons Act, 1897, not having been adopted by the late Vestry or the Council. In October
last the Council adopted a resolution to enter into an Agreement with the Kensington Borough Council
whereby the latter Council will cleanse at the Medicinal Baths, Blechynden Mews, all persons sent there
by the Medical Officer of Health of this Borough. The Agreement became operative on January 1st of
this year, but was anticipated during the late autumn in that 4 persons were sent to the baths, they
making 11 attendances. Although no compulsion can be exercised, it is hoped that infested persons
will be gradually persuaded to take advantage of the facilities now provided to enable them to free
themselves from vermin.
In addition to the tenements dealt with in consequence of information received from the School
Medical Officer, the Department served 190 Notices under Section 10 of the Act of 1922. Since 1904,
when the Council was first given power to deal with verminous rooms, bedding, etc., the Notices issued
have required infested rooms to be stripped, fumigated with sulphur in large quantities, and the blow
lamp to be used to all cracks and crannies. In 1921 and 1922 the Department made experimental use
of a special vermicidal spray, the results of which led the Medical Officer of Health to suggest to the
Public Health Committee in November last that an offer to spray infested rooms (at the owner's cost)
should be sent with each Notice. The Committee adopted the suggestion, and since February, 1923,
the Department has sprayed 79 rooms in 55 tenements, receiving £29 odd from the owners thereof.
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.
The results of the summonses taken out during the year under the Public Health and other
"Sanitary" Acts and the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts are summarised in Table 22. The total
amount of the fines and costs in "Health" cases was £101 1s. 6d., as compared with an annual average
of £39 8s. 6d. during the three years 1920-22. The fines and costs in "Adulteration" cases amounted
to £29 2s. 0d., as compared with an average of £40 5s. 4d. for 1920-22. The averages have been based
on three years instead of five as hitherto to eliminate the effects of War Regulations re foods. The
average fine and costs per conviction in "Adulteration" cases was : Fine, £3 ; costs, £2 17s. 9d., the
corresponding figures for the last three years being: 1922, £4 5s. Od. and£l 11s. 11d.; 1921, £3 16s. 3d.
and 15s. 5d.; 1920, £7 5s. Od. and £1 14s. 7d.
In 1 "Health" case and in 2 "Adulteration" cases the summonses were dismissed, in the
"Health" case with costs against the Council, and in the other without any costs being awarded.
Attention may also be directed to the fact that none of the persons summoned last year for adulteration
had been previously summoned by the Council—an unusual occurrence.