[Report 1945] / Sanitary Committee [- Medical Officer of Health], Cornwall County Council.

  • Cornwall (England). County Council.
Date:
1945
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1945] / Sanitary Committee [- Medical Officer of Health], Cornwall County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Tuberculin Tested. Accredited. No. of licences on 31st December,'1936 36 232 t 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 1937 36 299 99 99 99 99 1938 60 328 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 1939 96 400 99 99 99 99 1940 100 462 99 99 99 99 1941 104 471 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 1942 105 486 99 99 99 99 1943 125 497 99 99 99 99 1944 187 476 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 1945 231 420 The following number of samples were taken during the year, with the results shown:— Tuberculin Tested. Accredited. No. of samples taken i,ii6 1.655 ,, ,, satisfactory 987 1,382 ,, ,, unsatisfactory 129 273 The unsatisfactory samples were made up as follows;— Failed Methylene Blue Reductase Test 71 162 Excessive bacillus coli content 35 55 Failed Methylene Blue Reductase Test and Excessive B.CoIi content 23 56 MILK SUPPLIED TO SCHOOLS. The scheme, inaugurated in 1944, whereby pasteurised or tuberculin tested milk, when possible, should be supplied to schools, has continued. This scheme involves continued watch on the quality of the milk supplied and has had the close co-operation of Miss A. J. W. Nicholas, County Dairy Organiser, and Mr. W. Shaw, the County Sanitary Officer; the milk supply is inspected at all stages from the cow to the child and samples are tested as frequently as possible. No supplier is approved unless the purity of the milk can be verified and every effort is made to ensure that the milk supplv is “ safe,” though it cannot be too often repeated that the only ” safe ” milk is efficiently pasteurised milk. In spite of every care the personal element, in handling and storage of milk in bulk and in bottles, is so great, that occasional lapses must occur and no scheme has yet been devised that is “fool proof”; this is exemplified in the finding of organisms, probably innocuous, in samples from bottles where no such contamination was found in the bulk supply. This emphasises the importance of the complete sterilisa- tion of the bottles and their remaining sterile during the whole journey from the filling machine to the child. As milk is a very good culture medium for germs, it is important that, once the milk has been drunk, then as short a time as possible should elapse before the bottle is thoroughly washed and cleansed, and no residue of milk left in the bottle; greater provision therefore should be made in the schools for proper rinsing of milk bottles, but this is a difficult matter with inadequate water supply and facilities sometimes available. The type of bottle closure is also of importance, the majority being closed with a cardboard disc which does not, of course, cover the whole aperture of the bottle, and a tinfoil cover is preferable to enable the whole rim of the bottle to be covered. The provision of straws has continued to be difficult, but the supply improved towards the end of the year and shortly every school should be in a position to have a regular supply of straws.