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Road day nurseries) were closed and the children admitted to other nurseries. Plimsoll
Road nursery had to be re-opened temporarily as an annexe to Canonbury nursery,
where extensive repair work necessitated a reduction in accommodation. Nurseries
showed an average occupation of 81 per cent. throughout the year and it is of interest
that of the 464 ' nursery weeks' in 1955, quarantine was in force in the Council's
nurseries during 128 weeks—i.e., 27.6 per cent. of the time. There were 78 children on
the waiting list for admission at 31st December, nearly all in the third priority. At
the same date, 12 children were in the care of the five child-minders registered under the
Nurseries and Child Minders Registration Act, 1948, and 123 children in the care of
the 102 minders voluntarily registered under the Council's scheme. One new registration
under the Act was made in 1955.
Occasional
crèches
This new service, which started in this division in 1955, aims to provide care for
children under five for one or two half-days a week to enable their mothers to attend
sessions at the welfare centres or to undertake shopping and other tasks which can be
more effectively done unhampered by a small child. Authority was given for two
sessions a week to be held, each for 20 children, at four of the main welfare centres,
but so far it has been possible to staff sessions at only three centres, and that to one-half
the authorised extent, so that capacity is in fact limited to 10 children at each of the six
operating sessions. Attendances have averaged about half capacity. Both sessions at the
Province of Natal centre are staffed by voluntary workers ; paid staff are employed
elsewhere.
Vaccination
and
immunisation
Primary courses of immunisation against diphtheria were completed in 1955 for
3,505 children, representing 71 per cent. of the live births, and boosting doses were
given to 3,596 schoolchildren. The latter figure compares with 3,843 in 1954 and 1,939
in 1953, and is particularly gratifying when it is remembered that immunisations had
to be severely restricted for some weeks owing to the incidence of poliomyelitis, a
condition which did not obtain in 1954. The scheme for Saturday morning immunisation
sessions for schoolchildren has again proved its worth, and attendances have been
very satisfactory. 2,775 children had complete courses of immunisation against whooping
cough. 3,200 primary vaccinations against smallpox and 2,734 re-vaccinations were
given, compared with 2,894 primary vaccinations and 2,742 re-vaccinations in 1954.
As the policy on re-vaccination of schoolchildren is now to leave this work mainly to
general practitioners, no further sessions will be arranged in this division once the
current applications have been dealt with. There was one case of diphtheria in the
division during 1955, a schoolchild not immunised since infancy. There were 60 cases
of poliomyelitis, of which 38 were paralytic.
School health
service
Three schools opened in the division during 1955, and the infants' department at
another closed. One boys' school became a comprehensive school with an increased
roll and extra medical services were arranged. The physiotherapy work at Cloudesley
School for the physically handicapped has proceeded very smoothly under the aegis
of the Royal Free Hospital. Of the 40 whole-time and part-time health visitors employed
in the division (other than on tuberculosis work) at 31st December, 34 were undertaking
combined school and maternity and child welfare work.
The central B.C.G. team visited the division for the first time in May—June to carry
out B.C.G. vaccination of the 13-year-old children in 37 schools. Of the 1,857 children
given skin tests, 1,493 were subsequently vaccinated. Follow-up of 280 of these resulted
in 170 being sent for X-ray, 169 of whom were found to be normal. During the year
tuberculosis was found in three members of the teaching staff, one pupil and one school
kitchen helper and, with the co-operation of the head teachers, investigations were
made among the children in the five schools concerned. Arrangements for X-ray
examinations were in hand at the end of the year.
Toward the end of the year there was an outbreak of infection believed to be of
virus origin in the infants' department of an Islington school. The illness was characterised
by malaise, sore throat, some glandular enlargement, abdominal pain, with moderate
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