View report page

acute cases; the treatment of any predisposing or complicating condition
that might be likely to produce a recurrence; also the administration
of new drugs such as the antibiotics and penicillin, in the very early
stage of otitis thus preventing a considerable number of cases of acute
inflammation of the ear becoming chronic with purulent discharge;
and finally the rapid and successful treatment of a chronic case when it
is discovered.
Treatment of Discharging Ears. The correct treatment of an early
acute discharging ear is vitally important for two reasons, first to prevent
the condition from becoming chronic, and second, to save the
hearing, for the longer the ear continues to discharge the greater the
danger to the recovery of the hearing. Many cases of serious deafness
in later years are directly due to inadequate or neglected treatment of
the affected ear in its early stage. The application of ear suction with
the Smith's tube as advised by Levine of New York is a very valuable
method and the only one that can be relied on to cleanse the middle
ear of discharge and to insure the entry of the selected antiseptic into
the middle ear cavity, which is essential for quick recovery of the
infected ear.
Children seen at the clinic during the year, as in previous years, were
referred from the school medical inspections, minor ailment clinics and
infant welfare centres as suffering from nose and throat infections, and
a certain number of cases of impaired hearing.
Such common distressing complaints as nasal obstruction, mouthbreathing,
recurring colds and sore throats, nasal discharge and deafness
(in the absence of present or previous ear discharge) in children, form
a large percentage of the cases referred. These conditions are usually
secondary, and mainly due to primary diseased conditions in the nasopharynx
and nasal accessory sinuses. It is important to recognise this
fact if treatment is to be successful, and essential for the successful
correction of any abnormal condition to trace the primary cause and
correct this, since treating a secondary result alone, is treating only a
"sign" and will not cure the original disease.
Audiometry. The question of impaired hearing in children and its
relationship to disease in the naso-pharynx or nasal sinuses is one that
requires the most careful attention, since correct diagnosis and adequate
treatment of the cause is the first step in the prevention of permanent
deafness later on. It is here that the regular audiometric testing of the
hearing in school children is of such great value. This method will
detect accurately the smallest loss in hearing which could quite easily
go unnoticed by parents or teachers or by the usual hearing tests available
at routine medical inspections. Usually by the time a child's deafness
is noticeable to the parent or teacher and is brought to the notice
of the medical officer it will be found by audiometric and clinical tests
that at this stage the hearing loss is well advanced and the prospect of
full recovery much less certain. This is particularly so when only one
ear is affected as the loss here is masked by the normal hearing in the
other ear and may not be noticeable to the parents. The audiometer is
especially useful in these cases and a school audiometric survey is the
95