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
Barnes 1937
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Barnes]
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26
SCHOOLS.
There are 28 schools in the district. Of these 13 are Public
Elementary Schools, 2 are County Secondary Schools, and 13 are
private schools.
Careful investigations have been made into all outbreaks of
infectious diseases amongst scholars. Details of the incidence of
scarlet-fever and diphtheria (two of the more serious, but relatively
more preventable, infectious diseases) among children attending
school during the year are given below :—
Of 84 cases of scarlet fever notified during the year 53 were cases
in children of school age. Of these 33 were children attending public
elementary schools, and 20 were cases in children attending private
schools (15 at private schools in Barnes, and 5 at private schools outside
the district).
Of the 3 cases of diphtheria notified during the year only one was
a child of school age. This child attended a public elementary school.
In the 13 public elementary school cases occurred as under:—
| Number of scholars on Register. | Number of who suffered Scarlet Fever. | scholars from:— Diphtheria | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barnes Central Boys | 221 | — | — |
| ,, ,, Girls | 245 | 1 | — |
| Lowther J.M. and Infants | 284 | 3 | 1 |
| Castelnau J.M. and Infants | 55 | — | - |
| Westfields Mixed | 211 | — | - |
| ,, Infants | 119 | 1 | - |
| East Sheen J.M. and Infants | 380 | 8 | - |
| Mortlake Central Boys | 198 | 5 | - |
| ,, ,, Girls | 228 | — | - |
| Mortlake Council J.M. and Infants | ts 341 | 4 | - |
| Mortlake C.E. Mixed | 148 | 5 | - |
| ,, „ Infants | 76 | 6 | - |
| Mortlake R.C. | 162 | — | — |
| Total | 2,668 | 33 | 1 |
Of the 13 private schools in the district scarlet fever occurred in
only 4 of them. No case of diphtheria occurred in a private school.
The incidence of infectious diseases amongst children of school
age was extremely low. It is very satisfactory to have been able to
restrict the numbers of cases of scarlet-fever and diphtheria amongst
a total of approximately 2,700 school children on the public elementary
school registers to such small numbers as 33 scarlet-fever cases and 1
diphtheria case during the year.