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29
special examinations
of children
at Minor
Ailments
Centres.
The school doctors have attended at twenty-four of the minor ailment centres, for a short time
after school hours on certain fixed days, for the purpose of inspecting children reported by care committee
workers, teachers, school nurses and attendance officers, with a view to securing that any necessary
action should be taken and that those urgent cases found to be suitable for treatment under the Council's
scheme should be referred immediately to the proper department. The number of cases seen in this
way during the year was 6,527, and the conditions found as a result of the examinations were as follows :—
Conditions of skin (3,286) including scabies, impetigo, eczema, septic wounds, etc.; conditions
of the eye (725), conjunctivitis, blepharitis, corneal ulcers, etc.; conditions of ear, nose and
throat (1,019) otorrhcea, enlarged glands, tonsils, adenoids; conditions of teeth (89); other
cases (937), including mumps, anaemia, tubercular diseases, lung defects, etc.
Children out
of school for
long periods.
The arrangement has continued whereby the attendance branch of the Education Officer s department
submits each month to the school medical officer, medical certificates concerning all children out
of school for a period of 3 months on account of ill-health. The total number of children who were thus
reported as absent from school on the 1st November, 1918, was 2,487 as compared with 2,311 for the
corresponding month of the previous year. The conditions from which the children were
suffering in November, 1918, were as follows:—Rheumatism, including heart disease and chorea 325
(13.07 per cent.), nervous disorders 227 (913 per cent.), tuberculosis 566 (22.76 per cent.), anaemia and
debility 180 (7.24 percent), ringworm 136 (5.47 per cent.), diseases of the eyes 179 (7.20 per cent.), other
diseases 838 (33.68 per cent.), unsatisfactory certificates 36 (1.45 per cent.)
As pointed out in last year's report, the premier place is now taken by tuberculosis, which shows
an increase of 101 or 21.72 per cent., as compared with the figures for November, 1917. This increase
is no doubt due to the extended care and attention now being given to tuberculosis, whereby a larger
number of children suffering from this condition are discovered. All cases of tuberculosis and epilepsy
are still being registered, and apparently unsatisfactory or doubtful conditions are being followed up,
especially such for example as ringworm, scabies, and minor ailments.
Medical and Dental Treatment.
There is again a considerable increase to be recorded in the provision made for medical and dental
treatment. The centres, including hospitals, open and at work on 31st December, 1918, numbered
54, and provided for the treatment of 160,070 cases, viz., eyes 28,760; ear, nose and throat 12,610;
ringworm 2,050; minor ailments 29,970; and teeth 86,680. The most marked increase is in the
provision for minor ailments and dental defect and the proposed arrangements for the year 1919-20
further raises the numbers for minor ailments and for teeth to 37,840 and 100,980 respectively.
Defective Vision.—The number of children dealt with under the Council's arrangements was
27,200 or 138 more than in 1917. Spectacles were prescribed for 20,668 children, and 16,716 children
obtained spectacles.
Ear, Nose and Throat Defects.—For several years past the number of children requiring treatment
has steadily decreased. During 1918, however, there was an increase of 1,532 over the 1917 figures,
the total number receiving treatment being 10,907. In the last annual report, it was noted that the
decrease in that year was not due to the lower number found on inspection to require treatment, but
to the difficulties of following up the cases and the cessation of other facilities for treatment. Apparently,
therefore, the higher numbers receiving treatment in 1918 are due to improvement in following up.
Ringworm.—1,602 children were referred to the Council's centres, as compared with 1,284 during
1917. 1,280 children received X-ray treatment.
Minor Ailments.—35,423 children received treatment for minor ailments at 32 centres, or 7,292
more than the previous year. The new cases, together with those imder treatment at the beginning of
the year made 651,982 attendances. The visits paid by the nurses to the children's homes numbered
18,515, and in 1,399 cases arrangements were made for convalescent treatment or other forms of aftercare.
Dental
treatment.
Dental Treatment.—Mr. C. Edward Wallis reports that in spite of many difficulties contingen
upon the war the number of dental centres in London has increased from 38 to 43, affording provisio
at the end of the year for about 90,000 new cases annually, and as six further centres are authorise
by the Board of Education for the year 1919 there will shortly be provision for some 101,000 cases.
The results of dental treatment for the year 1918 are as follows :—
Total number of children attended 68,445
Number of attendances 107,472
Number of teeth or roots extracted—
Temporary 254,215
Permanent 29,726
Number of stoppings 51,496
Number of other operations, e.g., scaling,
immediate regulation, application of Ag NO:l,
etc. 12,881
Number of general anaesthetics—
Nitrous oxide 14,062
Ethyl chloride 13,834
Other general anaesthetics . 1,060
The principle underlying the scheme of school dental treatment in elementary schools as carried
out in London is that prevention and treatment should be developed side by side. Thus the dental
inspection sessions, which are held at the schools themselves, are utilised not only for instructing such
parents as attend, but also for instructing elder children in the care of the teeth.
Mr. Wallis refers to the preventive methods in use in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in which city
specially trained dental nurses go from school to school and it is claimed that as a result the incidence
of dental decay has appreciably diminished. If difficulty were experienced in London in obtaining a
sufficient number of suitably qualified dentists, it might be necessary to consider whether such a scheme
should be applied in the county.