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41
Impetigo still remains a fruitful cause of lowered school
attendances. To this, two factors contribute ; in the first place
affected children are not referred for treatment early enough so
that one child may have infected several others before being sent
for examination ; in the second place a proportion of children
attend for treatment at infrequent and irregular periods, and it
is only after repeated home visits by the School Nurses and threats
of prosecution that they ultimately do attend.
External Eye Disease.—Routine examinations yielded the
following results:—five cases of blepharitis, two cases of conjunctivitis,
one case of keratitis, one case of corneal opacity and
ten cases of squint. In addition there were found at the Inspection
Clinic, two cases of blepharitis, twenty-two cases of conjunctivitis,
one case of keratitis, five cases of squint and seven cases suffering
from other conditions.
Arrangements exist with the King Edward Memorial Hospital
by which a certain number of suitable cases of squint may receive
operative treatment. No such cases were treated during the year.
Vision.—Perhaps in no branch of school medical work are
such beneficial results shewn as in the treatment of visual defects.
Early education is very largely composed of visual impressions and
the importance of good vision in childhood cannot be over emphasized.
Every effort therefore is made to get cases of defective
eyesight early in school life. Each child with defective vision
receives no less than three separate tests before being provided
with glasses. Cases of eye disease that cannot be benefited by
glasses are referred to one or other of the London Eye Hospitals.
As a result of routine examination 156 cases of defective
vision were referred for examination by the Oculist. A further
108 were referred from the Inspection Clinic.
Ear Disease and Hearing.—Sixteen cases of defective
hearing, 18 cases of otitis media, and 2 cases of other disease of
the ear were discovered at Routine Medical Inspection, whilst
at the Inspection Clinic 16 cases of defective hearing, 20 cases of
otitis media and 4 other ear conditions were found.