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make other arrangements, children have been provided for, in order to enable their
mothers to accept residential treatment. The applications received during 1931
were 234, and 162 children were accepted, the remaining 72 being withdrawn or
unsuitable. At the end of the year 72 children were being maintained under this
scheme. The cost of these arrangements is borne by the Council.
Arrangements were also made through the Invalid Children's Aid Association
for providing children with surgical appliances after discharge from institutional
treatment, and in 56 cases apparatus was so supplied. The cost of these
instruments is borne from the balance of a fund known as the "Tuberculosis
Contributions Fund" into which contributions made by parents towards the cost of
their children's residential treatment under the Council's tuberculosis scheme
were paid prior to 1st April, 1925. Payments into this separate account are no longer
made as, since 1st April, 1925, the contributions of patients towards the cost of their
maintenance are paid into the County Fund. The balance of the fund is, however,
being applied as indicated above.
Report on the Work of the Bacteriological Laboratory at County Hall.
'Carrier' Investigations.
Diphtheria.—In the course of investigation into the occurrence of cases of
diphtheria in the elementary schools and children's residential and receiving homes, a
total of 3,407 swabbings from throat and nose and a few from the ear, were examined
from 3,389 individuals, yielding 124 or 3.6 per cent. with morphological B.diphtheriœ,
(K.L.B.) including 10 positive from ear discharges.
In the elementary schools, inclusive of children, teachers, and members of the
staff, 2,558 cultures were examined—from 2,455 children, yielding 79 or 3.2 per cent.
positive K.L.B. (including 5 positive from ear discharges), and from 93 adults, only
one of which proved positive.
In residential and receiving homes, a total of 849 cultures from 839 individuals,
yielded 44 or 5.2 per cent. positive K.L.B. (including 4 positive from ear discharges).
Of the total of 124 cultures recognised morphologically as positive K.L.B., 114
were submitted for virulence tests by animal inoculation performed at the Southern
Group laboratory, and yielded 78 virulent (67.8 per cent.) and 12 avirulent (12 per
cent.), and in the remaining 24 (20 per cent.) the organisms were identified as
diphtheroids or "K.L.B. not found." Of 6 K.L.B. cultures tested from ear
discharges, 2 were virulent and 4 avirulent.
Streptococcus.—Puerperal fever contacts.—29 examinations were made of 24
midwives for the presence of streptococcus hœmolyticus in throat culture. Four
proved positive in primary culture and one on later re-examination—i.e., 17 per cent.
Scarlet fever contacts.—Throat and nose cultures from 20 children in hospital
proved negative for hæmolytic streptococcus.
Meningococcus.—Two contacts of a case of cerebrospinal fever in a receiving
home were examined with negative result.
Ringworm Examinations.
In 876 hair specimens, 284 or 33.5 per cent. proved positive, including 220 small
spore fungus, 62 large spore, and 2 only favus.
Cerebrospinal Fluid Examinations.
182 specimens of cerebrospinal fluid were examined from 159 patients at St.
James', Fulham, Highgate and St. Pancras hospitals up to the end of October, 1931.