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ment, acting under the Medical Officer of Health, have been
of material assistance in following up in the house, oases of
infectious disease, and of dirty and verminous children.
Also there are distinct advantages in the School Medical
Officer being also Medical Officer of Health. The duties of
the two offices naturally overlap. The inspection of children
for the prevention of the spread of infectious disease and the
sanitary inspection of the premises are examples of this. The
union of the two offices tends to prevent duplication of work.
It has the additional advantage that the staff of the
Authority's Sanitary Department is thus made easily accessible
for any special work. They are employed for disinfecting
schools, and for following up cases of dirty and verminous
children, and for obtaining attention to the condition of the
homes as well as of the children. At the same time the
Medical Officer of Health finds that his position as Educational
Medical Officer greatly facilitates his work in
preventing the spread of infectious disease."
In the report of the Inter-Departmental Committee,
the results of medical inspection have been summarised as
follows:—
(1) There is no doubt that the establishment of proper
organisations for the prevention of the spread of infectious
disease has had marked results. Diphtheria especially, it is
stated, is now in several areas under such oomplete control,
that it can be stopped in a few days.
The knowledge now possessed by many teachers of the
symptoms of infectious diseases, enables them to act with the
promptitude which is essential if effective measures are to be
taken. The Education Act of 1902, by unitiug to a large