[Report 1952] / School Medical Officer of Health, Dorset County Council.

  • Dorset (England). County Council.
Date:
1952
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1952] / School Medical Officer of Health, Dorset County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    11/30 (page 9)
    Nose and Throat Conditions During the year 348 defects were ascertained at medical inspection requiring treatment. The waiting lists were again substantially reduced during the year, at least 965 children referred from all sources recei\dng operative treatment for the removal of tonsils and adenoids. Respiratory Diseases A total of 190 children were kept under supervision suffering from early and slight defects of the chest, while 66 cases of lung disease were ascertained which required treatment. I again reiterate that the prevention of severe lung disease in childhood is one of the most profitable fields of preventive medicine, as the train of events leading up to chronic disease can be halted if adequate but simple precautions are taken, especially when the child is recovering from the initial attack of infection. Defects of Vision Altogether 813 cases of defective vision requiring treatment were discovered, and a further 443 cases kept under observation. There were 105 cases of squint requiring treatment, and a further 119 for observation. Ear Disease and Hearing Cases referred for treatment numbered 35, and 81 in all were kept under observation. Like chronic conditions of the chest, ear infections frequently arise secondarily to other infections such as unhealthy tonsils and adenoids. The school health service should aim at eliminating otitis media, mastoid diseases and other causes of loss of hearing by paying particular attention to early nose and throat infections, and the prevention of their spread due to adverse conditions in the home and at school. Dental Defects As regular routine visits by the school dental officers were possible throughout the year, it was only necessary to record very urgent cases at school medical inspections. These were immediately referred to the dental staff. INFECTIOUS DISEASE Information relating to the incidence of illness among school children is usually obtained from two sources, namely, statutory notifications of infectious disease by general practitioners and returns from head teachers of children absent through illness. The value of the first source is limited in so far as it refers only to the notifiable diseases where a doctor has been called in, whereas the second gives as far as possible the cause of absence of each child. The rendering of this return may sometimes seem to head teachers to be an irksome task added to their already considerable clerical duties, but the importance of complete and accurate records of this nature must be stressed. “A health department requires up-to-date information on the prevalence of illness in general and the infectious diseases in particular, both to deal effectively with established epidemics and to recognise those developing at an early stage. The head teachers throughout the county do most valuable work in collecting this data and their help and cooperation is greatly appreciated. Details of the exclusion certihcates issued to schools, as a result of the returns of children absent through illness received during 1952 are given in the table below, with the comparative figures for 1948 to 1951. The statistics refer to the county, excluding Poole Excepted and South Dorset Divisional Executive Areas whose records are not available:—