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34
It was noted in last year's report that one or two of the Canteens
fell below the general standard—largely because of their age, planning
and amenities and not because of any staff weakness- and this particular
matter is at present being pursued with the Committee. I feel
that when in all modern schools the standard of canteen provided is
of a very high order, the time has now arrived when any relatively
unsatisfactory old canteens should be brought up to a good average
standard. I think it is a matter for congratulation especially for the
staffs concerned that our school canteens have during the year provided
us with not a single outbreak of food poisoning and it is the more
imperative to secure that even the oldest canteens are brought up
to a high standard.
I trust that the latter point may next be commented upon as a
matter of achievement rather than of hope.
SECTION F
PREVALENCE OF AND CONTROL OVER INFECTIOUS
DISEASE.
Scarlet Fever.
The total number of cases during the year declined from 245 to
204 and the number hospitalised declined from 26 to 11. This is
satisfactory but from the point of view of control and hence prevention,
the same could not be said. The number of notifications also is probably
far from being a true reflection of the incidence of this disease
since I am sure many cases never come to medical light. In addition
sore throats with or without an accompanying rash occur over the year
to a very considerable extent and fall within the Scarlet Fever type
of illness.
As the disease has assumed a mild form with—so far as we are
aware—few complications, so the question of isolation for any appreciable
length of time has receded more and more into the background.
Even where home isolation can be achieved with no real practical
inconvenience at all, the reason for such isolation is often not appreciated
and there is a tendency for the patient to have a relative
freedom of the house and household. The question of the period
during which isolation should be insisted upon is very much an open
one and to this fact may well be attributed a substantial amount of
the relative disrespect which this disease has now achieved. Allowing
for the mildness of the disease and the effects of Sulphonamides and
other drugs, we should still face the fact that cases of Scarlet Fever
can be a source of considerable inconvenience if not worse. Our
problems are not going to be solved until we have some really firm
ground to rest upon as to a reasonably fixed period of isolation. Until
then the control of this disease must from the public health point of
view represent what has become an unsatisfactory feature of our work.
Dysentery.
Five cases were notified during the year. This figure is at any
rate of significance in establishing that no epidemic occurred during
1953.