London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Leyton 1933
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Leyton]
This page requires JavaScript
The following table shows the types of physical defect, the number of children in each category, and the progress recorded in the cases of 154 children subjected to medical survey by Dr. F. W. Gavin (Deputy School Medical Officer) during the year.
| Improved. | Stationary. | Worse. | Total. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Debility (including Anaemia) | 22 | 8 | - | 30 |
| Bronchitis | 12 | 5 | 1 | 18 |
| Asthma | 6 | 5 | 2 | 13 |
| Bronchiectasis | 2 | 3 | — | 5 |
| Subnormal Nutrition | 2 | 5 | —. | 7 |
| Quiescent or Arrested Tuberculosis | 6 | 3 | — | 9 |
| Major Epilepsy | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Minor Epilepsy | — | 3 | — | 3 |
| Nervous (Tic, etc.) | 2 | — | — | 2 |
| Rheumatism (including Quiescent, Carditis and Chorea) | 19 | 13 | 2 | 34 |
| Congenital Heart Disease | 1 | 2 | — | 3 |
| Other defects | 1 | — | - | 1 |
| Cripples (Orthopaedic cases) | 16 | 8 | 1 | 25 |
| 91 | 56 | 7 | 154 |
Number of children improved
91
(59.09%)
Number of children stationary
56
(36.36%)
Number of children worse
7
(4.54%)
154
(99.99%)
Observations by Dr. F. W. Gavin.
To Dr. Gavin, who has conducted the medical surveys of
physically defective children at Knotts Green Open-air School
during the year, I am indebted for the following observations :—
This table is compiled from the findings at the last medical re-inspection
of the open-air school children in 1933. It will be appreciated that the
results would have been better if the progress notes made from June to
September had been used for these statistics. The weather during the
year was abnormal—an exceptionally dry, hot summer and early autumn
were followed by cold, foggy, damp conditions during the last three months
of the year. The latter conditions were unfavourable for children subject
to asthma, bronchitis and bronchiectasis. They were also, to some extent,
injurious to the rheumatic group. Further, the prolonged heat in the
summer may have had a debilating effect, and it is well known that prolonged
drought is often followed by an increased incidence of infectious
disease. In this connection it is noteworthy that scarlet fever was epidemic
during the latter part of 1933.