London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1913
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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205
Report of the County Medical Officer—Education.
being well adapted for isolation and quarantine purposes. Camberwell Green Place of Detention was
closed as soon as Ponton Road Place of Detention was ready for occupation, and the children
accommodated therein were transferred to the new institution.
The number of cases of infectious disease occurring in the institutions or detected upon admission are given in the subjoined table.:—
| Institution. | Accommodation. | Age. | Diseases. | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diphtheria. | Scarlet fever. | Measles, | Whooping cough. | Mumps. | Chicken-pox. | Ringworm. | Scabies. | Impetigo. | Infective Conjunctivitis. | |||
| Ponton road (opened Feb., 1913) | 40 children | Under 7 | 1 | 8 | - | 7 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 15 |
| 30 girls | 11-16 | |||||||||||
| Pentonville | 33 boys | 7-11 | - | - | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 9 |
| 51 girls | ||||||||||||
| Harrow road | 45 boys | 11-16 | - | — | - | — | - | - | - | 1 | - | — |
| Camberwell green (closed Feb., 1913) | - | — | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | ||
| Totals | 1 | 8 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 28 | ||
It may be mentioned that the occurrence of 8 cases of scarlet fever at Ponton Road was not
in the nature of a connected outbreak. They may be classified as follows :—
(1) Three cases 2nd, 10th, and 15th April.
(2) Three cases 21st, 22nd, and 27th June. These children were removed to hospital
although the symptoms were so mild that they would have been overlooked under
elementary school conditions.
(3) Isolated case detected upon admission 30th August.
(4) Isolated case detected upon admission 9th October.
Ringworm and Favus.
Ringworm.—The following table gives the statistical returns of ringworm compiled to show the
numbers of new cases, cured cases, and those outstanding at the end of each school term.
It should be noted that at the end of 1912 there were 2,204 children known to be suffering from ringworm.
| Terms. | New Cases reported. | Cured cases. | Suffering cases at end of term. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Treatment by which cures effected. | No. | Treatment being obtained. | ||||
| Spring Term | 1,459 | 1,195 | X-rays | 40% | 2,392 | X-rays | 23% |
| Ointments and lotions from hospitals, etc. | 32% | Ointments and lotiona from hospitals, etc. JL ™ | 35% | ||||
| Ointments, etc., from private doctors | r 18% | Ointments, etc., from private doctors | 25% | ||||
| Chemists and home remedies | 10% | Chemists and home remedies | 11% | ||||
| No treatment | 6% | ||||||
| Summer Term | 2,230 | 1,771 | X-rays | 48% | 2,752 | X-rays | 25% |
| Ointments and lotions from hospitals, etc. | 28% | Ointments and lotions from hospitals, etc. | 36% | ||||
| Ointments, etc., from private doctors | 18% | Ointments, etc., from private doctors | 23% | ||||
| Chemists and home remedies | 6% | Chemists and home remedies | 12% | ||||
| No treatment | 4% | ||||||
| Michaelmas Term | 1,884 | 2,291 | X-rays | 45% | 2,277 | X-rays | 33% |
| Ointments and lotions from hospitals, etc. | 30% | Ointments and lotions from hospitals, etc. | 36% | ||||
| Ointments, etc., from private doctors | 17% | Ointments, etc., from private doctors | 21% | ||||
| Chemists and home remedies | 8% | Chemists and home remedies | 9% | ||||
| No treatment | 1% | ||||||
The cases in which children were lost sight of owing to removals or had passed out of the
Council's jurisdiction are not recorded in the above table. On the whole, 5,573 fresh cases were
discovered during 1913 as compared with 5,311 during the preceding year.
During the year large numbers of specimens of hair have been forwarded by school doctors
and school nurses for microscopical examination in the laboratory. The subjoined table sets out the
results of these examinations, and for purposes of comparison similar figures for preceding years are
also shown.