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68
Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
The following- report was made to the Committee on thematter:—
"July, 1909.
"Since the 26th May there has been a succession of cases
of Scarlet Fever among children attending Hearnville Road
School, more especially in the Infants' and Girls' Departments,
and as from the history of the individual cases it was
difficult to explain their causation except on the ground that
they were due to an unrecognised case or cases, I communicated
with the Education Department of the London County
Council and asked that the children in these Departments
should be thorougiily examined.
"I visited the school on the 28th June, and, in consultation
with one of the Assistant Medical Officers of the Education
Department, examined the registers, and on that occasion
discovered two cases obviously recovering from Scarlet Fever,
in attendance. Lists of children absent were then forwarded
to me, and the homes of all visited, with the result that
another case was discovered.
"One of the cases excluded on the 28th June, a child in
Room "D," Girls' Department, was in my opinion responsible
for a considerable proportion of the cases. This child
had suffered since May 13th from the disease, but had not
been at school until June 28th, when she was found to be still
desquamating-. She had, however, been playing with other
children in the street, and in this way communicated the
disease to others.
"I had several consultations with the London County
Council Medical Officer on the matter, and we agreed to allow
the School to remain open, as otherwise it would have been
impossible for him to ascertain if any unrecognised cases
were still in attendance, and it was anticipated that after the
exclusion of the two children on the 28th June that no fresh
cases would occur. This, however, did not prove to be the
case as several cases have since been notified, which could not
be traced to the first group, and this in spite of the most
careful examination.