[Report 1937] / School Medical Officer of Health, Cheshire County Council.

  • Cheshire (England). County Council.
Date:
1937
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1937] / School Medical Officer of Health, Cheshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    28/46 (page 26)
    Blind, Deaf, Defective and Epileptic Children The question of accommodating certain grades of mentally defective children in the County is most acute. A certain number of cases are maintained in Voluntary Institu- tions, but such accommodation is strictly limited. It is hoped that a special school will be established at Cranage Hall. The case of the child suffering from combined defects continues to be another very acute problem, as there is enormous difficulty in finding suitable accommodation for such cases. Infectious Disease Diphtheria Immunisation does not come within the scope of the School Medical Service, and the responsibility lies with the Local Authorities. Considerable advances have now been made in this direction. In some districts the Toxoid Antitoxin is supplied free by the Local Authorities to Practitioners who administer it to those who desire it, and in others arrangements have been made for both supply and administration, the Local Authority being responsible for the whole cost. It is to be hoped that those Authorities who have not so far adopted a scheme of immunisation will, in the immediate future, do so. School Closure Schools closed by the Chief School Medical Officer ;— Measles 4 Scarlet Fever 2 Whooping Cough 1 Influenza 32 Diphtheria 2 Chicken Pox 1 School closure for infectious disease is resorted to only when there is definite evidence that it is the best method of preventing further spread of infection. In man3r cases closure can be avoided bv judicious exclusion of individual cases. During times of epidemics, especially in the populous Urban Areas, it is better to have the children under the supervision of the teacher and School Medical Officer ; prompt action can be taken when the first sign of sickening is observed. In scattered Rural Areas, where children after school hours are unable to congregate in cinemas or play together in the streets owing to their natural isolation from each other, closure is often an advantage.