London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Walthamstow 1930
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Walthamstow]
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"By 'odd eyes' is meant those cases where the child is suffering from long or short sight in one eye while the other is normal. It is often difficult to persuade the parent that this type of case requires glasses as there is no obvious improvement with glasses owing to the normal vision in one eye, nevertheless glasses are even more necessary than when both eyes are affected as the abnormal eye rapidly loses its sight from disuse.
| Defects. | Number of Boys. | Number per cent. | Number of Girls. | Number per cent. | Total. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Children. | Per cent. | |||||
| Hypermetropia | 31 | 20.39 | 34 | 17.89 | 65 | 19.01 |
| Myopia | 33 | 21.71 | 45 | 23.69 | 78 | 22.80 |
| Hypermetropic Astigmatism | 27 | 17.76 | 38 | 20.00 | 65 | 19.01 |
| Myopic Astigmatism | 12 | 7.89 | 9 | 4.70 | 21 | 6.15 |
| Mixed Astigmatism | 8 | 5.27 | 10 | 5.26 | 18 | 5.26 |
| Odd Eyes | 17 | 11.19 | 18 | 9.48 | 35 | 10.23 |
| Glasses not required | 24 | 15.79 | 36 | 18.94 | 60 | 17.54 |
| Totals | 152 | 100.00 | 190 | 100.00 | 342 | 100.00 |
"The above Table is a record of the new cases seen at the Clinics and requiring attention. Included in this Table are those children found suffering from Squints of the following types:—
| Boys. | Girls. | |
|---|---|---|
| Convergent R | 8 | 9 |
| L | 15 | 12 |
| Divergent R | — | 1 |
| L | — | — |
| Occasional R | 2 | — |
| L | 2 | 1 |
| Alternating | — | 4 |
Three hundred and thirty-one new cases were seen during 1930 and
2,252 attendances were made. Five hundred and forty cases were
prescribed for and all obtained the necessary spectacles, the cost to
the Education Committee being £44 15s. 3d., to which parents
contributed £44 7s. 9d. Table IV (ii) (Board of Education) gives
further particulars.
"Those included under the heading 'Glasses not required' are the following:—
| Disease. | Boys. | Girls. | Disease. | Boys. | Girls. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albino | 1 | - | Optic Atrophy L | 1 | - |
| Chorea | 1 | - | Anophthalmia R | 1 | - |
| Anterior Poliomyelitis | — | 1 | Injury to Eye | 2 | - |
| Abnormal Macula | - | 1 | Injury to Sympathetic Nerve | - | 1 |
| Old Interstitial Keratitis | 2 | - | |||
| Secondary Optic Atrophy | 1 | - | |||
| Double Cataracts | 1 | 2 | |||
| Phlyctenular Conjunctivitis | 2 | 1 | Nystagmus | 1 | 1 |
| Headaches due to Anaemia, Debility and Habit Spasms | 10 | 26 | |||
| Corneal Nebulae | 1 | 2 | |||
| Anterior Synechia | — | 1 |