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79
Children suspected to be suffering from defects of any
kind are referred to the Medical Officers by teachers, school
nurses, attendance officers, members of the Education Committee
or any other person interested in the children, also by
charitable organisations. In many cases parents also seek
the advice of the Medical Officer with regard to their children.
In these ways serious defects of any kind come
under observation early and are not left to be discovered
only when the child happens to be due for Routine Medical
Inspection. Children brought to notice by these various
means are what are called "Specials," i.e., children first
brought under observation by other means than by Routine
Medical Inspection; 291 "special cases" were dealt with and
1,112 re-examinations made.
FINDINGS OF MEDICAL INSPECTION.
(a) Uncleanliness.
At the Medical Inspections only 13 cases were
found. The Nurses by their systematic examination
of children in the schools discovered 541 cases. Most
of these were moderate cases shewing only nits in the
hair and the great majority were in girls. 59 cases
were excluded from school. All these excluded cases
were cleansed at home and re-admitted to school without
the necessity of taking legal proceedings.
Of the total 541 cases, 123 were completely
remedied and 396 improved, leaving 22 cases not improved
by the end of the year.
(b) Minor Ailments.
This includes such skin diseases as Ringworm,
Scabies and Impetigo and mild inflammation of the eye
and ear. These are dealt with under their respective
headings below.
(c) Tonsils and Adenoids.
75 cases were referred for treatment, 34 were
operated on at the Cottage Hospital and 17 elsewhere.
The arrangement with the Cottage Hospital continued
to work satisfactorily and the results of the
operations were good. The following shows the