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
Heston and Isleworth 1914
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Heston and Isleworth]
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20
A gland which is enlarged is diseased, and has its resistance
so lessened that the germ of Tuberculosis which may be introduced
through decayed teeth or enlarged tonsils, may thus find a very
suitable place for commencement of Tuberculosis.
Nose and Throat Conditions.
| Entrants. | Leavers. | Intermediates. | Total. | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hoys. | Girls. | Total. | Percentage. | Boys. | Girls. | Total. | Percentage. | Boys. | Girls. | Total. | Percentage. | Boys. | Girls. | Total. | Percentage. | |
| No. observations | 268 | 239 | 507 | ... | 325 | 296 | 621 | ... | 299 | 317 | 616 | ... | 892 | 852 | 1744 | ... |
| Enlarged Tonsils | 28 | 29 | 57 | 11.2 | 20 | 53 | 73 | 11.7 | 26 | 31 | 57 | 9.2 | 74 | 113 | 187 | 10.7 |
| Adenoids | 8 | 5 | 13 | 2.5 | 11 | 3 | 14 | 2.2 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 2.5 | 28 | 15 | 43 | 2.4 |
| Enlarged Tonsils and Adenoids | 17 | 4 | 21 | 4.1 | 26 | 6 | 32 | 5.1 | 13 | 13 | 26 | 4.2 | 56 | 23 | 79 | 4.5 |
| Deflected Nasal Septum | 2 | ... | 2 | ... | 3 | ... | 3 | ... | 1 | 1 | 2 | ... | 6 | 1 | 7 | ... |
| Enlarged Turbinates | 14 | 3 | 17 | 3.3 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 2.2 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 2.1 | 23 | 21 | 44 | 2.5 |
| Tonsillitis | 3 | 6 | 9 | ... | 1 | 1 | 2 | ... | 4 | ... | 4 | ... | 8 | 7 | 15 | ... |
| Pharyngitis | 1 | 4 | 5 | ... | 2 | 2 | 4 | ... | ... | 1 | 1 | ... | 3 | 7 | 10 | ... |
(Special cases examined during the year :—
Cases coming under observation, 74. Enlarged Tonsils, 3;
Enlarged Tonsils and Adenoids, 8; Tonsillitis, 25;
Pharyngitis, 21; Other diseases of nose and throat, 17).
The above table shews the abnormal conditions found in the
examination of those children inspected this year.
Those conditions, for which I have worked out the percentages,
are due to an overgrowth of the lymphoid tissue, and apart from
the immediate effects on the quantity of air entering the lungs
and the impairment of hearing invariably present, produce other
more remote effects on the mental and physical condition of the child.
From a large experience of Scarlet Fever and Diphtheria, I
have arrived at the opinion that these diseases, when they attack
children the subject of this lymphoid hypertrophy, are always
more severe and more frequently attended by complications.