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be carried out. The second child was still under treatment
at Pyrford at the end of the year.
In addition to the foregoing, the Maternity and Child
Welfare Committee also accepted responsibility for half the
cost of maintenance of a Wimbledon child under school age
who had been admitted by the Royal National Orthoptedic
Hospital to their country branch at Stanmore. This child
was suffering from septic arthritis of the hip and knee. She
was still under treatment in hospital at the end of the year.
Ophthalmia Neonatorum.—The following table shows the
number of cases of ophthalmia neonatorum notified and the
final results of treatment. These cases were mild and no
impairment of vision resulted. Home nursing was provided
in all three cases through the Wimbledon "District Nursing
Association:—
CASE6.
Treated. Vision Total
Impaired Blindness. Deaths
Notified. paired.
At Home. Hospital.
3 3 3 ... ... ...
In addition to the above, intimations were received
from the midwives that they had called in medical assistance
on account of several infants suffering from "sticky
eyes." The conditions from which these children were
suffering were not notifiable under the Public Health
(Ophthalmia Neonatorum) Regulations, 1926, but in every
case they were followed up by the staff of the Public Health
Department until all signs of inflammation of the eyes,
however slight, had subsided.
The fact that serious cases of ophthalmia neonatorum
have been absent from Wimbledon during recent years is
probably due to two facts, namely, that no unqualified woman
is practising midwifery in the Borough, and that the certified
midwives call in medical assistance when the slightest sign
of eye trouble in an infant appears.
Ophthalmic Treatment.—Four new cases from the
Maternity and Child Welfare Centres were seen by the
Ophthalmic Surgeon at the refraction clinic during the year.
In addition to this, six children who were already wearing
glasses, were re-tested. No new case was found to require
spectacles.
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