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87
A very great improvement among all age groups of girls was manifest in 1949
although, of course, the personal hygiene of scholars was shown at its best at routine
inspections as parents were notified in advance of the day of inspection. Even so,
the results year by year are strictly comparable and the table below, showing an
improvement in the percentage of verminous children found at the nurses' monthly
inspections, confirms the results of the routine inspections:—
Total
number of
inspections
Number
found to be
verminous
Percentage found to be verminous
1938 1947 1948 1949
Boys 437,915 8,174 (a) 2.5 2.1 1.9
Girls 463,073 28,267 (a) 7.5 6.4 6.1
Infants' 465,111 15,941 (a) 4.7 3.9 3.4
Totals 1,366,099 52,382 7.3 4.9 4.2 3.8
(a) Not available.
As in previous years many children were found to be verminous at more than
one inspection. The number of individual children found during the year to be
verminous was 26,063 (29,970 in 1948, 37,978 in 1947 and 65,292 in 1938).
The number of advice cards issued during the year compared with 1948 was
32,422 (32,677). The number of children who attended the cleansing centre after
the issue of advice cards was 22,032 (26,102); the number of statutory notices
served was 5,133 (7,626); 1,564 (2,212) of the children concerned attended
voluntarily and 3,182 (4,197) were compulsorily cleansed.
Only 7 of 160,071 pupils inspected had body vermin.
Vaccination
The upward trend of the figure of pupils vaccinated against smallpox noted in
the past two years continued in 1949. The proportion vaccinated rose from 52.9
per cent. in 1948 to 54.9 per cent. in 1949.
Diphtheria
immunisation
For diphtheria immunisation the percentages of pupils stated to have been
immunised followed closely those of 1948; the overall figure for 1949 was 84.4 per
cent. compared with 83.1 per cent. in 1948 and 82.7 per cent. in 1947. As pointed
out previously the former borough records were incomplete owing to children in
older age groups having been immunised whilst evacuees and because general
practitioners had not notified the boroughs of all immunisations carried out by
them. On the other hand school records usually overstate the proportion immunised.
Experience gained in checking borough figures against the school figures and
the analysis of the general trend led to the conclusion that the true figure is at
least 76 per cent.
Dental
standard
The percentage of pupils in the different age groups (disregarding the nursery
group) found to have defective teeth is given below. Whilst these figures are not
as reliable an index as the more exacting inspections of the school dental surgeons,
they do provide an index for comparative purposes and indicate continued
improvement:—
1938 1947 1948 1949
Entrants 40.3 28.9 27.6 26.7
7 years old 30.3 27.2 26.3 25.6
11 years old 22.7 17.5 16.7 16.3
Leavers 24.9 11.9 12.7 12.8
Other ages — 17.7 17.4 17.6
The report of the Chief Dental Surgeon is on page 102.