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 1953
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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The following table gives the results of the personal hygiene inspections carried out
during 1953:
| Total Number of Inspections | Pupils found to be verminous (*) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Percentage | ||
| Boys | 418,054 | 3,905 | 0.9 |
| Girls | 447,150 | 13,916 | 3.1 |
| Infants | 491,401 | 7,594 | 1.5 |
| Total | 1,356,605 | 25,415 | 1.9 |
* 'verminous', in this context, has a special connotation since it includes cases with only one 'nit' (ovum) as
well as cases with live vermin present.
For pupils whose personal hygiene is unsatisfactory an 'advice' card is issued,
which gives instructions to the parents on cleansing the child at home. A second advice
card gives, in addition, a warning of possible statutory action, and invites voluntary
attendance at a bathing centre. If, on re-inspection by the nurse, the condition is found to
be unremedied, then a statutory notice is sent to the parent. This statutory notice also
invites voluntary attendance at a bathing centre. If, on further re-inspection the condition
is still unsatisfactory, the pupil is conveyed to a bathing centre for compulsory cleansing.
The cleansing is carried out at seven bathing centres run directly by the Council
and, by arrangement with the Metropolitan Borough Councils concerned, at 21 borough
cleansing stations.
During the year the number of individual pupils found by the nurses to be
'verminous' (as defined above) at hygiene inspections, as distinct from the number of
occasions on which vermin was found (the same child might be verminous on more than
one occasion) was 12,686. The total number of 'advice' cards issued during the year
was 16,197. Pupils who attended at cleansing centres after the issue of advice cards
numbered 11,507; the number of statutory notices served was 2,142; 627 of the pupils
concerned attended voluntarily, and 1,346 were cleansed compulsorily.
At the bathing centres individuals treated for scabies totalled 670. The number of
verminous cases treated was 14,321, while the total number of treatments given was
21,324. Cases of impetigo treated numbered 2,991. The incidence of scalp ringworm,
38 cases, was higher than in the previous year when 29 cases were reported.
Revised approach to problem of uncleanliness
The Council's cleansing scheme has operated on the lines described above since the earliest
days of the school health service—the two 'advice' cards were first introduced in 1903.
The following table indicates the extent of this decline :
| Year | No. of pupils on school rolls | No. of nurses' hygiene inspections | No. of occasions oh which pupils were found to be 'verminous' | Column (4) as a percentage of column (3) | No. of individual children comprising column (4) | Percentage of the school population of the individual children in col. (6) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) | (6) | (7) |
| 1938 | 457,253 | 1,463,634 | 106,299 | 7.3 | 65,292 | 14.3 |
| 1946 | 334,784 | 1,532,848 | 87,668 | 5.7 | 40,960 | 12.2 |
| 1947 | 352,570 | 1,644,933 | 80,780 | 4.9 | 37,978 | 10.8 |
| 1948 | 373,090 | 1,538,187 | 64,620 | 4.2 | 29,970 | 8.0 |
| 1949 | 379,792 | 1,366,099 | 52,382 | 3.8 | 26,063 | 6.9 |
| 1950 | 380,885 | 1,428,783 | 46,012 | 3.2 | 22,159 | 5.8 |
| 1951 | 405,548 | 1,531,418 | 39,499 | 2.6 | 18,503 | 4.6 |
| 1952 | 425,362 | 1,439,384 | 31,905 | 2.2 | 17,051 | 4.0 |
| 1953 | 436,921 | 1,356,605 | 25,415 | 1.9 | 12.686 | 2.9 |