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5
Mr, Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors,
The year 1958 was one that showed the effects of the
new antibiotics on public health problems in subtle and
unexpected ways. No longer do we find children deaf as a
result of infections of the middle ears but rather we are
faced with the deafness due to inner ear defects for which
no cure is at present possible, Again the umbrella provided
by the practitioners treatment is causing us to lose the
protective reactions of the body to the resistant types
of staphylococcus and we are having many more infections
arising in hospitals as a result of the onslaught by
resistant bacteria. The curing of one problem so often
leads to the raising of another, that it would ill become
us to feel complacent about the victories of medicine.
Nevertheless let us be very grateful for the overall
picture with the introduction of poliomyelitis vaccination,
the gradual disappearance of tuberculosis, the conquest
of diphtheria, meningitis, venereal disease, and other
conditions The improvement in the general standard of
food hygiene the raising of the nutritional level„ the
care given to the expectant and nursing mothers and the
sight of healthy children being reared in comfortable
homes should give us all the satisfaction of feeling that
our service has played some small part in the formation
of the present picture.
It is now 10 years since Ealing undertook to make a
special feature of its examination of children's feet and
foot wear Not only has much infection and deformity been
found and treated but an enormous amount of health educational
work has been done that must inevitably pay dividends
in the future. The officers who have devoted so much time
to this work are to be congratulated.
I regret to record the death during the year of Mr,
Arthur Miller who was Ear, Nose & Throat Consultant when
Ealing was responsible for the School Medical Service.
This is a great loss to the Ear, Nose & Throat Department,
and has caused considerable disorganization.
Your Deputy Medical Officer (Dr. Seppelt) together
with an Assistant Medical Officer of the County Council
(Dr. Taylor) have carried out some interesting new work
in the field of speech therapy. It is set out in full in
the report and is an example of the kind of useful research
project that can still be done by local initiative and
enterprise under the aegis of the local authority. It