[Report 1931] / School Health Service, Monmouthshire County Council.

  • Monmouthshire (Wales). County Council. School Health Service.
Date:
1931
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1931] / School Health Service, Monmouthshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    24/118 (page 22)
    Of the new cases attending, Otorrhoea formed one-third. There was a marked increase in the number of cases referred to the Clinic because of deafness. Many of these were cases of catairhal deafness associated with enlarged tonsils and adenoids, or some chronic nasal condition. The former cases were sent for operative treatment to the County Tonsils and Adenoids Clinic. Any other cases which did not respond to treatment were referred for further advice to Mr. J. A. Lee, Con- sulting Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon. During the year several cases of Otorrhoea were treated by the method of Zinc Ionisation. This form of treatment has been adopted lately by many School Treatment Centres throughout the Country. It is claimed for Zinc Ionisation that it will cure any case of chronic Otorrhoea which is curable by “ drops ” but will accomplish this in 1/100th part of the time, thus saving an enormous amount of time. As most of the cases of Otorrhoea which report at the Minor Ailment Clinic are of long-standing and have refused to clear up with attempts at treatment by “ drops ” they are not very suitable for treatment by Ionisation, and this perhaps explains why, out of 25 cases treated thus, 13 cleared up for periods varying from G weeks to 1 year, 4 were definitely improved, and in the remaining 8 no change was noticed. Diseases of the skin again formed the largest proportion of the other cases treated. Of these. Ringworm, Eczema, and Impetigo were most numerous. The latter cases cleared up quickly. The extensive and severe cases of Ringworm were sent for X-Ray treatment—the milder cases were treated with anti-septic ointments and cleared up well, unless through neglect on the part of the parents the disease was allowed to spread. Cases of Eczema responded fairly well to treat- ment, but some resistant chronic eczematous conditions were referred to hospital. It is difficult to convince the mother of the importance of care with the daily dressings of these cases. The same thing applies to cases of Blepharitis, many of which Avould heal up more quickly if careful daily treatment were given. Many of the cases of Blepharitis occurred in strumous children whose diet was deficient in vitamins. Dental caries and diseased tonsils were responsible for the persistence of several of these cases which cleared up after attention to the septic foci. Errors of refraction were found in a very small percentage of cases. About ten per cent, of the cases seen suffered from general ill-health and were referred to the Clinic by the Heads of the various schools in the County.”