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 1934
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Walthamstow]
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The following are the weekly average numbers of children away from school owing to exclusions and the non-notifiable infectious and other diseases named:—
| Exclusions. | Chicken Pox. | Measles. | Whooping Cough. | Sore Throat. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | 113 | 79 | 197 | 33 | 36 | ||||||
| 1933 | 125 | 37 | 18 | 52 | 35 | ||||||
| Influenza. | Diarrhoea . | Mumps. | Ringworm. | Scabies. | Various. | Totals. | |||||
| 1934 | 60 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 614 | 1,152 | ||||
| 1933 | 149 | 3 | 62 | 3 | 2 | 619 | 1,105 | ||||
Infections Diseases and Diphtheria Immunisation Clinic.—The
weekly clinic, on Tuesdays at 2 p.m., was continued, and all
children of school and pre-school ages who had been close contacts
with cases of infectious diseases were seen prior to their return to
school.
In addition, all children discharged from the Sanatorium or
after home isolation were seen, and particular care was taken to
refer all cases with any suspicion of either rheumatism or of cardiac
involvement to the next following rheumatism clinic. Dr. Sheldon's
comment on this procedure is given in his report on the work of
the rheumatism clinic.
Thus, 32 cases were referred, and of these no fewer than 18 had
cardiac defects and were brought under early treatment. The
majority of these defects had developed after the patient's discharge
from hospital, i.e., they were late sequelae of the infectious disease.
The following table shows the work done at the Infectious Disease Clinic and is given because the large majority of the patients are of school age:—
| Number of clinics held in connection with Infectious Diseases | 51 |
| Number of patients attended | 2,405 |
| Number of attendances made | 3,632 |
| Average attendance per session | 47.1 |
| Number of Scarlet Fever cases discovered | 3 |
| Number of Diphtheria cases discovered | 19 |
| Number of virulence tests taken in Diphtheria carriers | 24 |
| Number of children recommended to Rheumatism Clinic | 32 |
| Number of children recommended to Ear Clinic | 27 |
The following table summarises the work done in respect of
diphtheria immunisation:—