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 1959
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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GENERAL PUBLIC HEALTH
Housing
This subject is treated at length at the end of this section.
Public health laboratory
The facilities available at the Medical Research Council's Public Health Laboratory
at the County Hall and the close co-operation with its staff have proved of great value.
Milk sampling
| Designation | Samples examined | T.B. Bacillus isolated | T.B. Bacillus NOT isolated | Test not completed* | Percentage positive of completed tests | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | |
| Ordinary | 43 | 28 | 27 | 1 | 38 | 24 | 27 | 5 | 3 | 4.0 | |||||
| Tuberculin tested. | 30 | 136 | 107 | — | — | — | 23 | 130 | 100 | 7 | 6 | 7 | — | — | — |
| Total | 73 | 164 | 134 | 1 | 61 | 154 | 127 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 0.64 | ||||
* Guinea pigs died before completion of test or milk curdled.
| 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liquid milk, samples taken by boroughs and county councils | 1,162 | 947 | 910 |
| Number found to be unsatisfactory | 3 | 7 | 11 |
| Dried milk, samples submitted to bacteriological examination | 4 | 4 | 4 |
No samples contained more than 100,000 organisms per gramme, nor was staphylococcus aureus
isolated.
Sanitary inspection The public health inspectors dealt with the following matters in Council establishments:
| 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reports of infestation by a variety of pests | 178 | 190 | 207 |
| Visits and re-inspections involved | 294 | 347 | 472 |
| Inspections of school meals centres | 420 | 375 | 362 |
| Investigations of illness following consumption of school meals | 15 | 12 | 7 |
| Occasions when the meal was found to be the cause | 2 | 3 | 2 |
Blind and partially-sighted persons
During the year, 1,741 examinations—104 more than in the previous year—were made in
connection with certification under the National Assistance Act, 1948, of blind or
partially-sighted persons and 48 persons were found to be neither blind nor partially-sighted.
In addition, 370 certificates were accepted from other local authorities, hospitals and
private ophthalmologists—81 less than the previous year. The percentage of new
registrations recommended to obtain treatment was 57.0 per cent. compared with 59.6 per
cent. in 1958.
The results of examinations of persons newly registered during the year are given in
tables (i) and (ii).
c
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