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 1924
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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106
Exceptional
children.
The following table shows the number of exceptional children in London during 1924 and the incidence per 1,000 of the total elementary school population :—
| Defect. | Children. | Defect. | Children. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Incidence per 1,000. | No. | Incidence per 1,000. | ||
| Blind—Totally | 323 | .5 | Pal. Tuberculosis | 1,320 | 2.2 |
| Partially | 946 | 1.6 | |||
| Deaf—Totally | 719 | 1.2 | Non.-Pul. Tub. | 2,257 | 3.8 |
| Partially | 144 | .2 | |||
| Mentally Defective | 7,367 | 12.4 | Delicate | 14,111 | 23.8 |
| Epileptic | 890 | 1.5 | Crippled | 7,750 | 13.1 |
Mr. Yearsley's
report
on deaf
children.
307 children were referred for special examination as suffering from deafness These were seen by the Council's consulting aural surgeon, with the following results :—
| Fit for central school | 2 | Fit for physically defective centre | 0 |
| Fit for elementary school | 16 | Invalided | 25 |
| Fit for elementary school (front row) | 76 | Advice given | 14 |
| Fit for hard of hearing centre | 64 | Imbecile or idiot | 2 |
| Fit for deaf school (normal) | 81 | Total | 307 |
| Fit for deaf school (defective) | 14 | ||
| Fit for mentally defective centre | 13 |
In the cases found suitable for special education the cause of deafness has been classified as under :—
| Boys. | Girls. | Total. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Congenital | 16 | 22 | 38 |
| Acquired | 49 | 36 | 85 |
| Doubtful | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 69 | 62 | 131 |
Of all the acquired cases of deafness there were 20 cases, or 23.5 per cent., attributable
to infectious diseases as against 33 5 per cent, in 1923, and 14.7 per cent,
in 1922. Of the diseases in this group, scarlet fever heads the list with 45 per cent.,
measles follows with 30 per cent., pertussis with 14 per cent., and diphtheria and
influenza with 4 per cent. each. As in 1923, the comparatively low percentage of
diphtheria is noteworthy. The sudden increase of scarle: fever, which has been
for some years below that of measles, is also to be noted. Taken altogether, the
lowered percentage of the infectious diseases in causing serious deafness in children
suggests an improvement in the treatment of these conditions, although observations
are required for some ten years to confirm this.
The amount of serious deafness due to pertussis, 14.9 per cent, as against ll.6
per cent, in 1923. is no doubt the result of the greater incidence of the disease during
the war years. In 1919 it reached 27.7 per cent.
Out of the 20 cases, in 15, or 74 per cent., the deafness was the result of middleear
suppuration, in 3, or 14 per cent., to internal ear complications and in 2, or
10 per cent., to catarrhal sequelae. The figures last year were 67.7 per cent., 16.4
per cent., and 13.9 per cent., respectively. The vast majority of cases of serious
deafness resulting from the infectious fevers was, therefore, preventible.
The congenital cases were made up as follows :—
| True Hereditary Deafness | 5 |
| Sporadic Deaf-—Birth | 33 —38 |
The cases of true hereditary deafness comprise four families, from which
scholars have already been supplied to the Council's deaf schools. The family
trees were as follows :—