[Report 1940] / School Medical Officer of Health, West Bromwich.

  • West Bromwich (England). Council.
Date:
1940
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1940] / School Medical Officer of Health, West Bromwich. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    17/26 (page 13)
    XIII.-PARENTS’ PAYMENTS. The arrangements were the same as in previous years, the following amounts being received:- £. s, d. Spectacles. 65. 0. 0. Dental. •• . 35. 0. 0. Orthopaedic Defects). 55. 0. 0. Tonsils d adenoids) XIV. -HEALTH EDUCATION. The work has continued along the usual lines. Grateful acknowledgment is made to the services rendered by the Local Press. XV. -SPECIAL INQUIRIES* None. XVI. -MISCELLANEOUS. SCABIES AMONGST SCHOOL-CHILDREN IN 1 9A0. The incidence of scabies amongst children attending the school clinics in 1940 showed a marked increase compared with the previous year, the figures being nearly doubled. Taking the bi-monthly returns for 1940 of new cases treated at the clinics in comparison with those of 1939> we observe some notable contrasts: Jan/Feb.Mar/Apr. May/June.Jul/Aug,Sept/Oct,Nov/Dec.Tot al. 1940 19 23 17 1 2 92 92 140 1939 9-J 12 13 k 6 7 85 Whereas the 1 999 figures tend to decline from beginning to end, those of 1940 show two'periods of higher than usual incidence, one in the spring - reaching its peak in March and April - and another in the autumn, trie start of an upward curve whose peak was not reached until well into the following year. The spring excess of cases was doubt¬ less due to•the children having been out of school much'of the winter - or at best attending somewhat desultorily - and so not under normal supervision, with the result that early cases were not Inspected aDd theparcsite infected several members of a family before treatment was commenced. Then in the autumn the public air-raid shelters revealed themselves as hotbeds of acarine infection; for large sections of the population were crowding together in confined spaces at a period of the twenty-four hours when the parasite is most active, and often whole families were infected in a single night. Ninety three of the year’s cases in which complete records of diagnosis, progress, and final cure were available have been analysed. They show the following features as regards duration and severity of infection. Duration of Infection, 1. 2. Weeks, 3. 4. 6. 2. Months. 9 (and over) No. of Cases. 13 18 9 17 16 9 11 Severity of Infection. - (Classified roughly according to the profusion and persistence of the legions). Mild - 40 Cases. Moderate 24 Cases. Severe - 29 Cases. 8