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147
was discovered it was excluded from the class and instructed to
attend the clinic for treatment. The homes of infected children
were also visited and the mothers instructed as to how to treat the
condition and how to prevent its spread. The contacts amongst
younger children not of school age who had developed the disease
were also treated at the clinic. In this way the infection was
rapidly and effectively stamped out.
Although this was the only important outbreak of infectious
eye disease occurring amongst the children of the schools throughout
the year, there were several smaller and less significant outbreaks
which, by prompt exclusion and the application of proper
curative measures, were quickly got in hand. These scattered
cases were instructed to attend the clinic at the Town Hall for treatment
when the parents themselves were unable to afford medical
attention.
It may be noted that throughout the year no schools were
closed because of this disease, as it has been found that school
closure as a method of successfully eradicating the trouble has
proved quite a failure.
TONSILS AND ADENOIDS.
Tonsils were considerably enlarged in 577 cases, slightly in
774 cases. Adenoids were found in 311 cases, leading in the
majority to nasal obstruction and mouth breathing. In all cases of
enlarged tonsils and adenoids when these were causing definite
obstruction of the respiratory passages parents and guardians were
strongly urged to have them removed at once. Adenoids,
either alone or in conjunction with enlarged tonsils, is one of the
most frequent causes of arrest of mental and physical development
in the child. This fact has been emphasized both to teachers and
parents. Mouth breathing, apart from tonsils and adenoids, has
also been observed in a number of cases, and instructions have been
given to teachers and parents as to the best methods to be employed
for the correction of this defect.
From figures supplied by the House Surgeon at the Croydon
General Hospital, I find that 165 Croydon school children were
operated upon at that institution. I have again to thank the
House Surgeon for kindly supplying a list of patients treated week
by week for tonsils and adenoids. This information is of practical
value as it enables us to write to the teachers and emphasize the
importance of after treatment.