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119
(8) INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
The following table shows briefly the number of children notified and reported
suffering from some of the commoner infectious diseases:—
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
Scarlet Fever
75
88
169
313
274
Diphtheria
128
43
71
247
174
Measles and German Measles
1
188
4
467
29
Chicken-pox
187
335
390
320
178
Whooping Cough
35
48
69
87
79
Mumps
—
8
23
39
30
Where the attendance of a school falls below 60 per cent, and in the opinion of
the Medical Officer this low attendance is directly due to the prevalence of infectious
disease, the school sessions so affected are not counted in estimating the average
attendance for the purpose of grant. During 1935 no certificates were granted
for this purpose.
The detection of infectious diseases among children of school-age, and the
prevention of same, is attempted in Barking along lines of co-ordination, which
are practicable in a town the size of Barking, perhaps more so than in larger
communities.
There is personal contact between the medical officers of your staff and medical
men engaged in private practice, and the whole-time members of your staff have at
all times access to and from time to time duties in your Infectious Diseases Hospital.
In addition lists are supplied from the Director of Education of children who
are of school-age and the reasons or alleged reasons for such absences from school.
Your School Nurses and Sanitary Inspectors, whenever necessary, follow up these
clues, and although one hundred per cent, efficiency cannot possibly be claimed—
such would indeed be very costly, and also present a very serious interference to
the domestic lives of the people of Barking—it may be said that in this way and in
that a very reasonable measure of control is maintained over infectious diseases.
Barking, however, is a small part of a large area and there are continual
movements of population to and fro. I am referring to daily travel, and to the
relatively large movement of population so far as residence is concerned, and whilst
these interchanges continue it is frankly impossible to talk very seriously of the
possibility of stopping the spread of disease.