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
Brent 1971
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Brent]
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47
PROTECTION OF SCHOOL CHILDREN AGAINST TUBERCULOSIS
Vaccination against tuberculosis continued to be offered to 13-year-old pupils attending both maintained
and independent schools. After the parent's consent has been obtained a simple skin test is administered
to determine whether or not the child needs protection. If the skin reacts to the test it usually means the
child has developed some immunity, but all such cases are investigated at the Mass X-ray Unit or Chest
Clinic.
During 1971, the testing of school entrants, at the age of five years was also continued throughout
the Borough. In all cases where a reaction was noted the child was referred to the Chest Clinic.
The table below gives the number of children tested and vaccinated:—
| (i) | Number of children whose parents were approached | 2,380 |
| (ii) | Number of children tested | 2,098—88.1% |
| (iii) | Number of those in (ii) negative to Heaf Tests | 1,752—83.05% |
| (iv) | Number of those in (iii) B.C.G. vaccinated | 1,675—95.06% |
| (v) | Percentage of Vaccination to (i) above | 70.38% |
Entrants
(i) Number skin tested
(ii) Number positive
(iii) Number negative
3,024
156—5.16%
2,740—90.61%
CONVALESCENT TREATMENT
Nineteen children were recommended for recuperative holidays under Section 28 of the National
Health Service Act, 1946, for which the Education Authority accepted responsibility. These arrangements are
made on the recommendation of the School Medical Officer or General Practitioner in respect of children who
have been found to be in poor health or suffering from a disability for which a holiday is considered to be
an essential part of the recuperative treatment. In no way are they intended to provide annual holidays for
children whose parents are unable to do so.
Details of illness and length of stay are given below:—
| Diagnosis | No. of Children | Length of Stay |
|---|---|---|
| Quinsy | 1 | 2 weeks |
| Debility | 4 | „ |
| Diabetes | 3 | „ |
| Frequent upper respiratory infections | 4 | „ |
| Epileptic | 4 | „ |
| Pneumonia | 2 | „ |
| Appendicitis | 1 | „ |
| Total | 19 |
AUDIOMETRY
The routine testing of pure tone audiometer of every school child's hearing continued. A "sweep"
test is carried out in the first instance in the school, normally at the ages of 6, 9 and 13 years, failures are
retested at clinics under more favourable conditions. Children failing the second test are then referred to
School Medical Officers for further investigation.
Special cases (for example children who fail to develop proper speech, fail without apparent reason
to make progress at school) were tested at the clinics at the request of Medical Officers, Speech Therapists,
Educational Psychologists and Head Teachers.
A table showing the numbers dealt with during the year is given below, the figures for 1970 in
brackets.