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Table XXXIII shows the number of cases recommended for
other remedial measures with or without ionization and the number
obtaining treatment or refusing. On the whole the figures are
satisfactory especially with regard to mastoid operation, for the
facilities for which, as well as for its successful accomplishment,
the authority is indebted to Dr. McLaggan.
Only three recent post-scarlatinal cases were treated during
the year as compared with seven during 1929. The machinery is
in existence for the handing on of these cases to the clinic and it
is to be hoped that the small number is representative of a reduction
in the number of active post-scarlatinal cases and not to indifference
on the part of parents or incomplete ascertainments.
Statistical proof of the value of the clinic is difficult, for, as
the figures show, it is much more than merely an ionization clinic.
Ihe control, thorough investigation, and classification of the cases
are invaluable and replace casual empiricism by scientific treatment.
RHEUMATIC CLINIC REPORT.
During 1930 the Rheumatism Clinic has continued its useful
work among school children, and this, its third year of existence
shows to an even greater degree than former years the usefulness
of this branch of the school medical service.
The national importance of Rheumatism is becoming more
clearly recognised. Dr. Bach in his Chadwick lecture on Rheumatism
stated "Of every 100 school children 10 were suffering from
some form of juvenile Rheumatism," and "That 8 out of
every 10 cases of organic heart disease recognised in persons under
40 years of age were due to this infection." This last statement
is a justification for the Rheumatism Clinic. It is to the reduction
of the number of damaged hearts, and the subsequent invalidism
from this cause, that the investigations at this clinic aim.
The essential end of all Public Health work is prevention,
and although a certain minor degree of treatment is necessarily
incorporated, it is by no means a primary object. The Rheumatism
Clinic acts only as a sorting and advisory centre, directing specific
types of rheumatic infection and disability into the channels of
treatment proper to their type, and from which they are likely to
derive the greatest benefit. For that large group of cases which
are classified as Mild and Potential it acts in a supervisory capacity,
limiting their activity at school where necessary, assessing