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
East Ham 1945
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for East Ham]
This page requires JavaScript
87
(a) Uncieanliness.
The school nurses have carried out cleanliness surveys in all
schools during the year, and a high degree of personal hygiene
has been observed. At these surveys and at other inspections,
care is taken to detect the presence of verminous conditions.
COMPARATIVE TABLE.
| Year | Number Examined | Number with Nits | Number with Head Vermin | Number of Exclusion Certificates | Proceedings nnder tSec. 54 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | 12,107 | 178 | 23 | 91 | |
| 1942 | 15,769 | 549 | 54 | 98 | |
| 1943 | 28,427 | 1,044 | 93 | 93 | |
| 1944 | 22,573 | 584 | 89 | 68 | |
| 1945 | 25,448 | 579 | 62 | 65 | — |
*Sec. 54, Education Act, 1944, from 1/4/45.
(b) Minor Ailments.
The number of children referred for treatment of minor
ailments was 284 or 40.2 per cent. of the total requiring
treatment.
(c) Tonsils and Adenoids.
272 children were found to require treatment of tonsils and
adenoids either combined or separately. This unusually high
figure, representing 38.5 per cent. of the total requiring treatment
is largely due to the decrease in the facilities for operation on
pre-school children during the war years, and must be expected
to form a considerable proportion of the defects requiring
attention until more normal conditions prevail.
(d) Tuberculosis.
Boys Girls Total
Pulmonary Tuberculosis 11 6 17
Other forms of Tuberculosis 4 5 9
Five cases of suspected tuberculosis were referred to the
Chest Clinic during the year.
(e) Skin Diseases and (f) External Eye Disease.
Twenty-five cases of skin diseases were discovered.
There were no cases of external eye disease found at Routine
Medical Inspections.