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 1955
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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Infectious diseases in schools
When a pupil is absent from school, and the cause is either known or suspected to be
due to infectious disease, the Head of the school notifies the Divisional Medical Officer
and the Borough Medical Officer of Health. The numbers of cases of infectious diseases
thus reported during 1955 and the preceding years are given below :
Cases of infectious illness involving exclusion or absence reported from schools in 1955 and preceding years
| Year | Chicken-pox | Diphtheria | German measles | Impetigo | Measles | Mumps | Ophthalmia and Conjunctivitis | Poliomyelitis | Ringworm | Scabies | Scarlet fever | Whooping cough |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | 11,018 | 3,576 | 2,383 | 1,018 | 31,852 | 4,805 | 342 | — | 278 | 2,718 | 3,988 | 4,067 |
| 1951 | 16,756 | 26 | 2,193 | 212 | 15,045 | 6,127 | 1,685 | 29 | 138 | 73 | 1,811 | 3,338 |
| 1952 | 14,281 | 31 | 16,115 | 266 | 13,127 | 8,391 | 1,245 | 70 | 138 | 93 | 3,042 | 2,028 |
| 1953 | 7,143 | 17 | 686 | 195 | 8,282 | 2,614 | 526 | 81 | 127 | 64 | 1,703 | 3,478 |
| 1954 | 13,891 | 7 | 567 | 402 | 2,439 | 13,051 | 452 | 28 | 110 | 81 | 1,292 | 1,587 |
| 1955 | 8,366 | 7 | 639 | 522 | 16,724 | 1,982 | 271 | 206 | 80 | 72 | 984 | 1,614 |
These figures are uncorrected for diagnosis, but they form the best available index
of the trend of those infectious diseases in the child community, which are not
statutorily notifiable.
When the number of cases of infectious disease reported from a particular school
indicates the possibility of an outbreak, special visits are made by a school nursing
sister, and, if necessary, by a school doctor, in order to investigate the situation and take
whatever control action is considered desirable.
The system of notification by the Head and careful observation of the pupils in
the school has been the practice for many years and is an important contribution
towards the control of the spread of infectious disease.