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73
Deaths of Older Children.
34 children died between the ages of one and five
years ; of these, 22 were males and 12 females. The
largest individual cause of death was Pneumonia which
was assigned as the reason for 14 deaths in children
under the age of five, Whooping Cough two, Scarlet
Fever one and Pneumonia five between the ages of one
and two and nine between the ages of two and five.
There has been a very marked decrease in the
number of children who died between the ages of one
and five, 34 compared with 81 for the previous year.
This is partly accounted for by the fact that 1937 was
not a Measles year. Owing to the almost constant cycle
of Measles, we may expect an increase in the deaths from
this cause for the year 1938.

There were 51 cases in which a medical aid notice
was sent by a midwife to a medical practitioner on
account of some eye condition occurring in a newly born
infant. All these cases were visited by the Medical
Officer of Health and a Health Visitor. Of the total
cases investigated, only four were notified as suffering
from true Ophthalmia Neonatorum.
Under the ruling of the Central Midwives Board
discharge from the eye of a newly born infant, however
slight, must be notified to the Medical Officer of the
Local Supervising Authority, who in the case of
Dagenham is the Medical Officer of Health.