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207
Report of the County Medical Officer—Education.
By the summer holidays 1909 only three cases remained uncured and the school was closed as
a teaching centre. With one exception all the children treated were of alien descent.
Only four cases were reported as occurring among school children during each of the two
years (1910 and 1911) following the closure of the favus school. During 1912 27 fresh cases have
come under observation, and, as stated above 49 fresh cases were reported in 1913.
The following table will be of interest as showing the form of treatment obtained in the
majority of the cases which have occurred during the past two years:—
Treatment by X-rays 16 cases cured, 6 still suffering.
Other forms of treatment 20 ,, „ 21 „ „
Not yet receiving treatment — 1 „ „

It should be borne in mind in referring to the above table that X-ray treatment in a large
proportion of cases is only resorted to after other forms of treatment have been tried without effect.
Although the increase in favus may only be apparent and mainly due to the large number of specimens
submitted for examination in the Council's laboratory in which the existence of favus has been
identified, it is probable that, owing to the difficulty of diagnosis, cases certified in previous years
as cured may not have been entirely free from infection, and others may have been certified as
suffering from ringworm or other scalp diseases. It is possible that there may be more cases of
favus amongst the alien population in the East End of London, not only among children but adults
also, than is generally recognised, and it is chiefly through the vigilance of the school doctors and
school nurses that the additional cases of favus discovered during 1913 have been reported. The
differential diagnosis between ringworm and favus is not an easy one to make, and the importance
of laboratory aids to diagnosis is apparent in the discovery of these otherwise unrecognised cases. Of
the 76 cases reported during the past two years, no fewer than 63 have been discovered as a result
of microscopical examination in the Public Health Department. The school nurses are instructed
to give special attention to the early detection of cases in the schools and to submit material for
microscopical examination. Cases have, moreover, been brought to light in which it was found that
persons had been admitted to this country suffering from the disease. With a view to preventing
the further ingress of favus into the country through the Port of London by means of immigrants,
the Public Health Department is working in co-operation with the Medical Officer to the Port of
London Authority and London Immigration Board.
Defective Children.
During the year six new schools have been opened—two each for mentally defective,
physically defective and partially deaf children. One school for mentally defective children and one
for physically defective children have been closed. The number of special schools with a total
average roll of about 11,500 is—
Schools for the mentally defective (M.D.) 92
„ „ ,, physically defective (P.D.) 37
„ „ „ deaf(D.) 10
,, „ ,, partially deaf (hard of hearing) 3
„ „ „ blind (B.) 8
„ „ „ myopic (My.) 3
Special
schools.
The procedure in regard to the special examination of children with a view to the admission
to special schools has been modified during the year. Formerly the children were nominated by
the head teachers on forms specially prepared for the purpose, and, as it was found that on examination
many of the children so nominated were cases of retardation due to remediable defects of the
special sense organs, it was considered desirable to arrange for the children to be seen in the first
instance by the school doctors. This arrangement has afforded a measure of relief, as children
found at the preliminary examinations to be suffering from adenoids and like defects are not summoned
with their parents to special centres, with a consequence that much less inconvenience, resistance,
and alarm is caused, and that speedier arrangements for treatment can be obtained owing to
greater co-operation of the school care committees. The total number of children examined during
the year was 7,655.
Admission
examinations.