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159
Report of the County Medical Officer—Education.
Camberwell-green were closed wholly or in part for 152 days; of that period only 41 days (or 26 per
cent.) was due to actual illness amongst the children over seven years of age. The younger the children
the more susceptible they are to disease.
The cases of chickenpox, German measles and whooping cough which occurred at Pentonville
were all due to children who had contracted the diseases shortly before admission to the home and were
therefore incubating the disease at the time. As they were quite well on admission and there was no
history given of contact they were admitted to the general community in the home.
One outbreak of chickenpox was attributed to a mother bringing a child to court covered with
the rash of chickenpox and thereby infecting two sisters whom she was allowed to see and handle ;
subsequently other children in the home also contracted the disease.
On February 2nd a boy aged 13 was admitted ; up to February 10th there was no sign of any
illness. On February 15th he developed chickenpox. He contracted the disease through spending
the afternoon with a friend suffering with chickenpox, about three days before he was charged. No
other case occurred. On February 9th a little girl of 5 was admitted. She rarely spoke or played
with the other children; on the 25th the doctor saw her in the evening and found her with a
temperature of 104, and signs of broncho-pneumonia. A fading rash was discovered on examining her
in daylight. The other children were watched, and isolated as soon as they showed signs of being unwell
three other children developed German measles.
In April a small boy was found to have spots which proved later to be chickenpox. The two
boys who slept on either side of him subsequently developed the complaint.
There are objections to placing all young children in one home—for instance, the distances that
have to be covered going to and from the courts. To take a concrete case, a girl of five is taken from
a house situated in the north of London, on Thursday night, she is charged at the police station
and sent off to Ponton-road—a distance of six miles in a straight line—arriving perhaps after
midnight. The next morning a policeman and matron journey to Ponton-road, which they reach
about 12 ; from there, they have to convey the child to the Children's Court at Old-street—a distance of
four miles in a straight line—after the remand the child is taken back to Ponton-road, which may be
reached about six o'clock ; the total distance which the child was conveyed in this instance amounted
to some 15 miles in 24 hours.
The incidence of infectious and contagious diseases occurring at the places of detention is given
below. The distribution of cases at Pentonville and Camberwell Places of Detention is presented in
tabular form as illustrating the effect, upon the incidence of disease, of the transference of the children
under seven years of age from the former to the latter institution in the early part of July. The thick
black line represents the date by which the children were transferred.
Residential,
Industrial,
and Special
Schools.
Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May. June. July. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
Whooping
Cough
Pentonville 2
Camberwell 2* 1* 5 7
German
Measles
Pentonville 3*
Camberwell
Mumps
Pentonville 2
Camberwell
Chickenpox
Pentonville 1* 2* 4 1
Camberwell
Ringworm Pentonville 2 2 5 3 1
Camberwell 1 3 1
Favus Pentonville 1
Camberwell
Ophthalmia Pentonville 5
Camberwell 1 9 3 3
Scabies Pentonville 2 1 3 3 4 1
Camberwell
At Harrow-road Place of Detention 8 cases of scabies and 1 case of chickenpox occurred among the
inmates.
*Denotes that the institution or the affected section thereof was placed in quarantine.