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18
(6) INFECTIOUS DISEASE.
The prevention of the spreading of infectious diseases in your
schools is carried on by the united efforts of the teachers and your
public health staff.
Notified cases are followed up, and, so far as is practicable,
steps are taken to minimise the possibility of infection at school.
The difficulties, however, are very considerable. The beginnings
of most infectious diseases are so vague that if every child who
suffers from a sore throat were forthwith advised to stay home,
not only would many children remain away from school with very
minor disabilities, but any child who wished to remain off school
would have a ready-made excuse, well nigh impossible to disprove.
It is remarkable under these circumstances how very much is done
by our teachers.
In cases of notifiable infectious disease the sanitary inspectors
call at the home, make all possible investigations, and on their
report, if necessary, your medical staff take further action.
As you know, where the attendance of a school falls below
60 per cent., and in the opinion of the Medical Officer this bad
attendance is directly due to the prevalence of an infectious disease,
the school sessions so affected are not counted in estimating the
average attendance for the purpose of grant.
The following table shows briefly the number of children
notified and reported suffering from some of the commoner infectious
diseases:—
Scarlet Fever 132
Diphtheria 67
Measles and German Measles 342
Chicken-pox 215
Whooping Cough 47