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previous year. As will be seen from the Report, over 3,000 children
were immunised against diphtheria during the year and no death
from diphtheria occurred amongst the immunised children.
Scabies was made compulsorily notifiable during the year and
details are given in the Report of the considerable number of cases
treated at the Cleansing Station. It is too early to judge whether
compulsory notification contributed to the reduction in the number
of cases treated as compared with the previous year, but the number
of notices served under the Scabies Order, 1941, indicates that there
are still too many people who delay seeking treatment and thus
continue longer than is necessary to expose others to the risk of
infection.
The number of cases of tuberculosis notified during the year
was smaller than in 1942, notwithstanding the fact that the
population was somewhat larger, but there was an increase in the
number of deaths from this disease. For the first time maintenance
allowances were granted during the year to facilitate the acceptance
of residential treatment by tuberculous persons with dependents.
The work of the Maternity and Child Welfare Centres continued
uninterruptedly throughout the year and there were considerable
increases in the number of attendances of mothers and infants at all
clinics, especially at the ante-natal and actinotherapy clinics: the
attendances at the latter increased from 7,981 to 12,317. This
improvement was partly due to the arrangements made for artificial
light treatment for children in attendance at the war-time day
nurseries. Many of the children admitted to the nurseries were
recommended by Dr. Madeline Knowlson, Day Nursery Medical
Officer for light treatment and were taken by the nursery staffs to
the Welfare Centres three times a week for treatment and derived
great benefit.
The War-time Day Nurseries were fully occupied throughout
the year, and the health of the children in attendance benefited
considerably from the careful supervision and regular routine.
Convincing evidence as to the comparative freedom of the
child population of the Borough from deficiency diseases was
obtained as a result of participation in the investigations carried
out in the early months of the year by the British Pediatric Association
on samples of the child population in 23 selected areas in
the British Isles with a view to ascertaining whether there has
been any increase in the incidence of rickets during the war. X-ray
films and clinical reports were furnished as regards 329 Hackney
children between the ages of 3 months and 18 months, and from
these diagnoses of clinically active rickets were made in 13 cases,