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Cases of Tuberculosis occurring in Teachers or Pupils
When a member of staff or pupil at any school in the Borough is found to be suffering from
tuberculosis, investigations into all school contacts are undertaken where these are necessary under
the supervision of the chest physician. A case of tuberculosis is not necessarily infectious, but where
it is steps are taken by a skin test and X-rays to determine whether any contacts are affected.
During 1967 one investigation at a school was carried out. Children in five classes affected
were skin tested; 106 tests were carried out in all and one child with a positive reaction was referred
to the chest physician for further investigation.
Infective Hepatitis
An outbreak of infective hepatitis during the year enabled an experiment to be conducted in the
usefulness of gamma globulin as a means of ending the outbreak. This investigation was carried out
under the direction of the Public Health Laboratories at Colindale. Gamma globulin was offered to all
members of the teaching staff and was given to the children born on odd dates in the four classes
concerned - children born on even dates being used as "controls". All children with gastro-enteric
symptoms were excluded from school for at least a week. No child given gamma globulin subsequently
developed infective hepatitis. The height of the outbreak occurred in February and following the
administration of gamma globulin the infection at the school died out by the Easter vacation. Details
of the outbreak are as follows:-
Number of cases 16 children, 3 adults
Number given gamma globulin 76 children, 18 staff, 57 controls
Uncleanliness and Verminous Conditions
Regular hygiene inspections of schools are carried out by school nurses. While verminous heads
are now rather the exception than the rule, careful watch is kept to prevent the spread of infection.
The following details are submitted concerning hygiene inspections carried out in 1967:-
Number of individual examinations of pupils in schools by school nurses 62,051
Number of individual pupils found to be infested 190
Ringworm of the scalp
During the year 19 cases occurred sporadically in six schools throughout the Borough and, in
conjunction with the Department of Mycology at St. John's Hospital for Diseases of the Skin, screening
by Wood's Light was immediately undertaken of all children in the affected school in order to exclude
contact cases. All doubtful cases were referred to the consultant dermatologist at the Prince of Wales's
Hospital for further investigation.
Verrucas
During the year a special clinic was set up at Weston Park Medical Centre to deal with intractable
cases. The medical officer who conducts the clinic has made a study of plantar warts in school children
under the supervision of the consultant dermatologist at the Prince of Wales's Hosp.ital. Where necessary,
diathermy under local anaesthetic is carried out. The object of this special clinic is to provide treatment
which is usually only available at hospital out-patient departments where waiting lists are long.
Children will therefore obtain treatment more quickly and will be absent from school for shorter periods.
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