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the Council are prepared to pay a fee. He will also undertake all Schick testing
that may be necessary or desired. He will attend at the Old Town Hall Children's
Welfare Centre, Woolwich, from 2.0 to 3.0 p.m., and at the Eltham Health
Centre, Westhorne Avenue, from 3.30 to 4.30 p.m., on the first and second
Tuesday in each alternate month of the year, that is to say:—January, March,
May, July, September and November. When a medical practitioner or a
parent wishes a child to be Schick tested the patient should be sent to the expert
on the first Tuesday of the alternate month when the test will be performed.
The interpretation of the test will be undertaken on the second Tuesday of
the month.
Medical practitioners may consult the expert at his clinic when he
is in attendance, or privately at any other time by appointment.
Most children under one year of age are immune from diphtheria, and it is
therefore not considered necessary to immunise them. After the age of twelve
years the risk of contracting diphtheria diminishes rapidly, and the Council
do not propose at present to pay fees in respect of persons over this age. In
these circumstances, if a medical practitioner desires to immunise infants under
twelve months or persons over twelve years of age, it will be necessary for him
to arrange for a private fee to be paid for his services and for the services of the
immunisation expert, if desired.
As the majority of children between the ages of one and five years are
susceptible to diphtheria, there is no need to apply the Schick test, and immunisation
can be recommended immediately (except in the case of those who have
had diphtheria).
A medical practitioner should not undertake immunisation until the
appropriate facts have been placed before the parent or guardian.
If the Schick test after the immunising injections have been given proves
positive, the expert will advise the medical practitioner to give further injections,
and on evidence being produced that these have been given, the Council will agree
to pay an additional fee of 10s. Od. subject, however, to the limitation of liability
indicated under (k) above.
The Council, by means of the usual health propaganda channels, will bring
to the notice of Woolwich residents the fact that diphtheria can be prevented
and that those who desire security for their children should apply to their
own family doctor."
The first Schick Testing Clinics at Eltham and Woolwich were held on the 6th
November but it was soon apparent that the proposal to hold these clinics twice in