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53
to have defects requiring treatment. A far happier situation
prevails today and the emphasis is on health education
and advice to parents on every aspect of their child's
school life.

B,C 60 VACCINATION^
A feature of the school medical work carried out dur
ing the year was a campaign of vaccination against tuberculosis,
The method employed is the injection of a harmless
strain of tubercle baccillus (baccillus Calmette
Guerin), Its discovery, like that of Penicillin, was due
to a chance observation, after many years research, by
bacteriologists. It has been used for a considerable time
in different parts of the World, particularly in Scandinavia,
The scheme required the close co-operation of school
head teachers and their staffs and this, as usual, was
readily available. Ealing was one of the districts selected
to take part in the Medical Research Council tests of
two types of vaccine, a Danish liquid and a British manufactured
freeze-dried vaccine. During the year vaccination
has been offered to all Ealing school children of 14 years
of age* It is by then that their natural resistance to
Tuberculosis has fallen, If, therefore, they are vaccinated
at this age immunity is gained by the time they leave
school and become exposed to possible infection in office
or workshop
Valuable statistics have been compiled for the use of
the Medical Research Council, although our primary interest
has been the protection of school children. Two teams-,
each comprising a doctor, nurse and clerk, have visited
all the Secondary, Technical and Grammar schools in the
Borough, Skin tests were carried out and negative reactors
were vaccinated. As a precautionary measure positive
reactors were X-rayed. The figures given below do not
adequately reflect the vast amount of work thac was