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 1948
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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67
Comment on the Council's dental scheme for school children are included in the
report of the Chief Dental Surgeon on page 83.
Dental
condition
The table below gives the percentages of children found to harbour vermin, i.e., nits and/or vermin in their hair at routine inspections during 1948 with corresponding figures for previous years:—
| Age Group | 1938 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entrants | Boys | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 |
| Girls | 2.3 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 0.7 | |
| 7 years old | Boys | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.4 |
| Girls | 3.2 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 1.2 | |
| 11 years old | Boys | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.4 |
| Girls | 3.5 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 1.0 | |
| All ages | Boys | 1.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 |
| Girls | 2.9 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 0.9 | |
Cleanliness
There is a progressive improvement on the pre-war year (as is also shown in
cleanliness of the body) and also a remarkable improvement during the year as
shown by a comparison of the figures for 1947 and 1948. The number of pupils
found to have vermin on the body was only 2 out of 156,304 pupils inspected. The
parents are, however, warned beforehand of the doctor's inspections so the children
are usually specially cleaned for the occasion.
The most reliable index of the all-round incidence of head vermin among school
children is that found by the school nurses at their monthly inspection of the children
at each school, of which the parents are not previously warned. The following table
shows the progressive lessening of the incidence of infestation found by the school
nurses at these monthly inspections:—
Total Number examined
Number found to be
verminous
Percentage found
to be verminous
1938 1946 1947 1948 1938 1946 1947 1948 1938 1946 1947 1948
Boys (a) 507,114 533,996 496,586 (a) 14,255 13,299 10,660 (a) 2.8 2.5 2.1
Girls (a) 496,245 548,307 525,730 (a) 42,639 40,829 33,535 (a) 8.6 7.5 6.4
Infants (a) 529,489 562,630 515,871 (a) 30,774 26,652 20,065 (a) 5.8 4.7 3.9
Totals 1,463,634 1,532,848 1,644,933 1,538,187 106,299 87,668 80,780 64,260 7.3 5.7 4.9 4.2
(a) Details not available for 1938.
Many children are found to be verminous at more than one inspection which
explains the fact that the number of individual children found to be infested in any
one year is usually less than 50 per cent. of the total number of cases in which children
were noted to be verminous. The number of individual children found during the
year to be verminous was 29,970 (37,978 in 1947 and 65,292 in 1938). It is encouraging
to note the drop in the all-round incidence of infestation with vermin since the pre-war
year, despite the difficulties in housing conditions and of cleansing facilities and
materials in the homes of the children.
The system of advice cards and follow-up visits outlined in the Report for 1947
was continued.
The number of advice cards issued during the year compared with 1947 was
32,677 (52,652). The number of children who attended the cleansing centre after
the issue of advice cards was 26,102 (30,090); the number of statutory notices served
was 7,626 (9,863); 2,212 (2,983) of the children concerned attended voluntarily and
4,197 (5,651) were compulsorily cleansed.