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 1957
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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Milk purchased for use in Council establishments :
1956 1957
Liquid milk, samples taken by boroughs and county councils . . 1,420 1,162
Number found to be unsatisfactory .. .. .. .. — 3
Dried milk, samples submitted to bacteriological examination 5 4
No samples contained more than 100,000 organisms per gramme, nor u>as staphylococcus aureus
isolated.
Sanitary inspection The public health inspectors dealt with the following matters in Council establishments :
| Reports of infestation by a variety of pests | 200 | 178 |
| Visits and re-inspections involved | 350 | 294 |
| Inspections of school meals centres | 500 | 420 |
| Investigations of illness following consumption of school meals | 22 | 15 |
| Occasions when the meal was found to be the cause | - | 2 |
Blind and partially-sighted persons
During the year, 1,785 examinations—35 less than in the previous year—were made in
connection with certification under the National Assistance Act, 1948, of blind or
partially-sighted persons. 69 persons were found to be neither blind nor partiallysighted.
In addition, 334 certificates were accepted from other local authorities, hospitals
and private ophthalmologists, this was an increase of 87 over the previous year. The
percentage of new registrations recommended to obtain treatment increased from
51-5 per cent, to 53-8 per cent.
The results of examinations of persons newly registered during the year are given
in Tables (i) and (ii) below.
Table (i)
| Age | Principal cause of defective vision | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cataract | Glaucoma | Retrolental fibroplasia | Other conditions | ||
| 0-4 years | 3 | _ | 2 | 14 | |
| 5-15 years | — | — | - | 2 | 2 |
| 16-64 years | 41 | 20 | - | 168 | 229 |
| 65-74 years | 62 | 31 | - | 159 | 252 |
| 75 years and over | 240 | 45 | - | 321 | 606 |
| Age not known | — | — | - | 2 | 2 |
| 346 | 96 | 2 | 661 | 1,105 | |
| ment | 223 | 68 | - | 304 | 595 |
| (1b) as percentage of (a)...... | 64-5 | 70-8 | - | 460 | 53-8 |
Table (ii)
| No. of patients examined | Treatments recommended | Optical | Hospital Supervision | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | Medical | Surgical | ||||||
| Early | Later | V general condition permits | ||||||
| Cataract | 346 | 123 | 19 | 45 | 31 | 35 | 28 | 117 |
| Glaucoma | 96 | 28 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 50 |
| Retrolental fibroplasia . | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other conditions | 661 | 357 | 58 | 16 | 11 | 11 | 48 | 211 |
| TOTAL | 1,105 | 510 | 93 | 62 | 47 | 50 | 78 | 378 |