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PREVALENCE OF, AND CONTROL OVER, INFECTIOUS
AND OTHER DISEASES
CONTROL OF VERMIN AND SCABIES
By the courtesy of the School Medical Officer particulars regarding the
cleanliness surveys in schools have been obtained, and are as follows:-
Number of children examined:-
Primary Schools 6,585
Secondary Modern Schools 3,396
9,981
Number of children requiring treatment 77
Number of children in respect of whom
cleansing notices were issued 60
Number of children cleansed by Local Health
Authority 42
Although there appears to be a smaller number of infested cases, this may
only be because of a considerable drop in the total number of children examined,
and indeed there is an increase in the number of compulsory cleansings, which
means that 42 children were severely infested and possibly not for the first
time. The fact that adult and adolescent relatives of schoolchildren can act
as reservoirs of infestation is often the reason for the recurrent need for
treatment of individual children. There are no statutory powers to enforce the
inspection of adult contacts.
By arrangement with the Medical Officer of Health of Hammersmith, persons
requiring cleansing because of infestation with scabies or vermin, can be treated
at the Hammersmith Cleansing Station. During 1959, 13 persons were referred
for cleansing, all for scabies.
INFECTIOUS DISEASE
In the year 1959 there was an increase in the incidence of infectious
disease. This was due mainly to a rise in the scarlet fever notifications.
Measles
The following figures of measles notifications show the fluctuations of
this disease during the past ten years.
1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
269 863 413 810 47 659 107 773 330 328
Poliomyelitis
Two notifications of poliomyelitis were received during the year, and both
cases were confirmed as paralytic poliomyelitis.
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