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19
SCABIES.
There was a considerable increase in the number of school
children suffering from scabies. As many as 501 cases were treated
at the Health Centres during the year. In addition, 307 adults
and pre-school children were treated, bringing the total number
of cases treated at the Centres to 808. General practitioners and
Factory Medical Officers made greater use of the facilities for
treatment offered at the Centres by referring no fewer than 209
of this total compared with only 19 cases in 1941.
No change has been made in the method of treatment which
since 1935 has been by one application of benzyl benzoate. Owing,
however, to- the temporary scarcity of this substance a liquid
preparation of derris root was given a test at one Health Centre.
A hundred cases were treated with Derris and concurrently an
equal number were treated with benzyl qenzoate using an identical
technique. The derris preparation was found to be distinctly
inferior in effecting a cure
The successful control of scabies necessarily depends upon the
careful following up of contacts in the same family or household.
It is seldom that the School Nurses, who carry out this duty with
tact, are unable to secure the simultaneous treatment of all the
members of the infected family. The Scabies Order, although
it has never been made use of, has great value from its mere
existence.
It should be noted that the number of severe cases with
dermatitis is decreasing. This is probably due to greater familiarity
with the symptoms of the disease by medical practitioners, school
teachers and members of the public themselves, leading to earlier
discovery and prompt and efficient treatment.