[Report 1920] / School Medical Officer of Health, Hyde Borough.

  • Hyde (Cheshire, England). Borough Council.
Date:
1920
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1920] / School Medical Officer of Health, Hyde Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Persons born of weakly or consumptive stock are prone to fall victims to the germ, and unfortunately the germ is so common. After years spent in examining many thousands of children, I am convinced that bad or wrong nutrition is partly responsible for the trouble. Cases of actual want, great poverty, are few; it is the succession of badly cooked meals, the put-off dinners, the scamped breakfasts that work havoc with the nutrition of children. We have our share of such cases in Hyde. Bad ventilation also is responsible. A housing census was begun in 1920, and the records made, so far, disclose instances in which people are living in some houses where ventilation is inadequate. You cannot separate the housing from the health question. I am satisfied that whilst there is but one remedy for fixed windows, made-up chimney places, etc., still there are those who might greatly dimish housing discomforts by a higher standard of house and also personal cleanliness. Skin Disease. One hundred and seventy five cases of impetigo, 49 ringworm of head, 35 ringworm of body, 68 of scabies (itch), 134 of various lesser skin diseases were ascertained during the year. Tables II. and IV. give details. Class examinations are made from time to time to detect cases of scabies and impetigo. The former disease is troublesome, and takes time to cure. In the case of scabies and impetigo, oral and printed instructions are given as to treatment. (f) External Eye Disease. These cases were chiefly blepharitis 53 and conjunctivitis 36, keratitis 4, corneal ulcer 6. Frequently the presence of blepharitis indicates eyestrain and the need of spectacles to obtain relief. (g) vision. Only cases where V = 6/12 or over were counted and notified. A total of 275 were ascertained during the year. Here, as elsewhere, some twelve per cent, of children require spectacles. Under the Blind and Deaf Act, 1893, one boy was sent to Henshaw’s Blind Asylum. The Act does not refer to totally blind cases only, but also to those who cannot read the print of an ordinary school book. There are twelve cases which, though a grade worse than the average defective eyesight cases, fall short of the standard qualifying for a special school under the Act. These 12 cases suffer from such conditions as loss of one eye, nystagmous keratitis, congenital defects, blindness in one eye from injury with needle, etc. At routine School Medical Inspection, when a case of defective vision is met with, the usual defect notice is made out for the family doctor. A very few cases are treated at Ashton Infirmary or Manchester Infirmary. At the “ following up ” not many are found who have obtained spectacles, and these are sent to the Clinic for refraction and prescription of glasses. Practically every case is treated first with a solution of homatropine hydrobromide and cocaine ; a few “ leavers,” who can relax their accommodation readily, are not treated with the mydriatic. During 1920 the Committee fitted up a very satisfactory dark room for me for retinoscopy. Following the dark room examination, each case is examined at twenty feet with the test cards. Generally another seven minutes are required in a couple of days, once the paralysis of accommodation has worn off, so as to make allowances for latent hyper- metropia, and to measure for the spectacle frame.