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sessions so arranged, a further offer of initial treatment was given to the
parents of those children who had not so far sought the treatment which,
up to that time, had been given exclusively at special clinics in Health
Centres. As a result of this offer to take the service to the children in
school, no fewer than 1,440 additional school children were vaccinated
and the treatment rate among school children was increased by 85%.
Ophthalmia Neonatorum
No case of this infection of the eyes in the new-born was notified.
Preventive treatment of the eyes at the time of birth and the prompt use
of the modern anti-biotic preparations at the first suspicion of inflammation,
has been mainly responsible for the reduction in the prevalence of this type
of infection to negligible proportions.
Puerperal Pyrexia
As is to be expected most of the notifications of a rise in temperature
in lying-in-women came from the extensive obstetric units of the local
hospitals which cater for the maternity needs of a large part of Metropolitan
Surrey.
The present definition of puerperal pyrexia covers every rise of temperature
of 2° within fourteen days of childbirth or miscarriage from every
cause, whether related to the childbirth or not. During the year 141 such
notifications were received. Three were in respect of domestic confinements
and the remaining 138 were hospital deliveries. Of the total 34 were
Carshalton mothers. There were no deaths.
Food Poisoning
Only one isolated case of food poisoning was reported in a child of
seven years. It was not possible to ascertain how she contracted the
infecting organism—S. typhimurium. The child's older sister became
secondarily infected from the patient after an interval of eight days. Both
recovered, but it was not possible to get them bacteriogically negative
until two months after the onset.
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