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168
The following points demand consideration in arriving at a
decision as to the policy which should be adopted in regard to
the necessity or otherwise for disinfecting or destroying school
materials used by infected scholars :—
1. Infection occurs by direct contact.
2. There is no case on record where school materials have
been demonstrated as the cause of the spread of infection
(Arthur Newsholme).
3. The difficulty of determining what articles of school
material have been used by an infected scholar.
4. The only sure means of disinfecting school materials is
by destruction, e.g., burning.
5. The value placed upon the use of disinfectants and antiseptics
has undergone considerable modification in modern
times.
6. The discontinuance of the practice of disinfection does not
appear to have affected the incidence of acute infectious
disease.
7. The relative importance of the moral sustaining effect of
disinfection as compared with the false sense of security
produced by possible out-of-date sanitary rites.
8. The necessity for making use of natural hygienic
measures for preventing infection—cleanliness, fresh-air
and sunlight.
The Education Committee subsequently resolved to recommend
that the following procedure be adopted in future:—
(a) That pens and pencils known to have been used by the
notified scholar immediately prior to the commencement
of absence from school be destroyed by burning.
(b) That books and similar apparatus used by the scholar be
disinfected by exposure to the air for a suitable period.
(c) That school furniture used by the child, so far as it is
possible to definitely locate it, be thoroughly washed with
soap and water by the Caretaker of the School.