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Total No. of pupils
No. of No. with Other found to be verminous
No. examined verminous nits only verminous % of No.
heads cases No. examined
Annual comprehensive
health surveys 326,372 1,190 1,838 — 3,028 0-93
(359,715) (2,247) (2,251) (—) (4,498) (1-25)
Additional health surveys 435,166 2,194 3,217 2 5,413 1-24
(473,294) (3,652) (3,334) (2) (6,988) (1-48)
To assess the comparative level of infestation amongst schoolchildren, only the findings
for comprehensive health surveys (each child seen once a year) can be compared with the
former hygiene inspections (each child seen once a term). As will be seen in the following
table, the percentage found to be verminous at comprehensive surveys in 1959 was very
much the same as that found at hygiene inspections in recent years, but the percentage in
1960 shows a marked decrease, indicating that the new approach using Lorexane hair
shampoo has made an impact on the 'hard core' of 'verminous' cases which had resisted
the methods used in previous years.
Percentage found to be verminous
Hygiene inspections Comprehensive health surveys
1956 1957 1958 1959 1960
1.26 1.25 1.27 1.25 0.93
The number of individual children found to be verminous in 1960 was 4,870, a reduction
of 1,494 from the number in 1959. The average annual reduction from 1955 to 1959 was
450.
Cleansing scheme—The introduction of Lorexane No. 3 has caused an alteration in
the layout of the following table, making comparison with past years difficult. The new
cleansing scheme itself is fundamentally different from past practice, in its emphasis on the
children being cleansed at home by the parents.
It appears, however, that more than four out of every five 'first' (slight) infestations,
were given a tube of Lorexane No. 3 and nearly two-thirds of the 'seconds'. The percentages
of children returning to school clean after the issue of a notice only in earlier years
and a notice with Lorexane No. 3 in 1960 are not comparable, as the school health visitor
has exercised some selection in the cases before deciding the action to be taken.