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 1938
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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Table 26
| Defect | Number nominated | Suitable for admission to | Returned to elementary school | Invalided as for the time unfit for any school | Notified under M.D. Acts | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boys | Girls | Blind school | Partially sighted | Swanley | Boys | Girls | Boys | Girls | Boys | Girls | ||||
| Boys | Girl | Boys | Girls | Boys | Girls | |||||||||
| Ocular | 629 | 791 | 3 | 3 | 75 | 75 | 249 | 253 | 295 | 455 | 7 | 5 | — | — |
| Deaf school | Partially deaf school | |||||||||||||
| Boys | Girls | Boy | s | Girls | ||||||||||
| Aural | 158 | 144 | 34 | 23 | 2 | 6 | 20 | 97 | 101 | 1 | — | — | — | |
| P.D. school | Day open-air school | Residential P.D and hospital sohool | ||||||||||||
| Physically defective | Boys | Girls | Boys | Girl£ | Boys | 1 Girls | ||||||||
| 722 | 521 | 388 | 311 | 53 | 23 | 113 | 1 58 | 148 | 114 | 20 | 15 | — | — | |
| M.D.school | ||||||||||||||
| Mentally defective | Boys | Girls | ||||||||||||
| 778 | 559 | 301 | 232 | 400 | 261 | 36 | 39 | *41 | *27 | |||||
| Epileptic colony | ||||||||||||||
| 3oys | Girls | |||||||||||||
| Epileptic | 58 | 65 | 18 | 19 | 25 | 28 | 15 | 18 | — | — | ||||
| Total | 2,345 | 2,080 | 1,260 | 1 | ,017 | 965 | 959 | 79 | 77 | 41 | 27 | |||
| 4,425 | 2,277 | 1,924 | 156 | 68 | ||||||||||
*Of these 30 boys and 17 girls were imbeciles; 2 boys and 2 girls were idiots; and 9 boys and 8 girls were
feeble-minded.
The numbers of children actually attending special schools will be found in
table III of the statistical tables at the end of this report.
The following statement shows the nature of the conditions found among the children certified as suitable for admission to schools for the physically defective at the admission examinations during the year:—
Table 27
| Morbid conditions | Boys | Girls | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infantile paralysis | 26 | 21 | 47 | ||
| Cerebral paralysis | 17 | 10 | 27 | ||
| Various paralyses | 16 | 7 | 23 | ||
| Tuberculosis of bones and joints | 35 | 20 | 55 | ||
| Osteomyelitis | 48 | 15 | 63 | ||
| Rickets and resulting deformities | 7 | 3 | 10 | ||
| Congenital deformities | 15 | 11 | 26 | ||
| Spinal deformities (including scoliosis) | 5 | 5 | 10 | ||
| Traumata and amputations | 19 | 14 | 33 | ||
| Non-tuberculous arthritis and synovitis | 11 | 14 | 25 | ||
| Rheumatism and chorea | 13 | 20 | 33 | ||
| Various chest conditions—fibrosis, bronchitis, asthma | 84 | 35 | 119 | ||
| Heart diseases— | |||||
| Congenital | 21 | 16 | 37 | ||
| Acquired valvular | with history of rheumatism | 121 | 138 | 259 | |
| without history of rheumatism | 6 | 6 | 12 | ||
| Non-valvular | with history of rheumatism | 4 | 6 | 10 | |
| without history of rheumatism ... | 4 | — | 4 | ||
| Anaemia | 26 | 16 | 42 | ||
| Pseudo-hypertrophic muscular dystrophy | 6 | — | 6 | ||
| Various nervous conditions, ataxia, etc | 5 | 4 | 9 | ||
| *Other diseases—chiefly medical | 12 | 8 | 20 | ||
| Total | 501 | 369 | 870 | ||
* Including 1 boy and 2 girls suffering from nephritis.