[Report 1927] / Medical Officer of Health, Burton-upon-Trent County Borough.

  • Burton upon Trent (England). County Borough Council.
Date:
1927
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1927] / Medical Officer of Health, Burton-upon-Trent County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    79/102 (page 78)
    In Iasi year’s attention was direeted to tli(‘ ixMcentage of ehildren who wore glasses after leaving school. It will have been noted that in one class of defect (.Myojda), d(l |(ei' cent of the ehildren eontinned to wear glasses. It seems, therefore, ap[)ro])riate that most of our attention sliould he devoted to t he class of child w ho linds glasses indisponsal>l(' to him in the struggle for e.xistence. .Myopia or ” shortsight ” is a di'fect w hieh is first noticed as anile about the age of 10, aiul w'hich with continual ii.se of the eyes for elo.se work, tends to rapidly ih'teriorate, so that, if nnchecked,. permanent grave injury and oven blindness can result in the severer cases. • During this year, preventive measures have l.ieen initiated as follows :— 1. t)n the discovci'v of slight myopia, the parents an' inter- viewed by the School .Medical OlHccr and the nature of tlii' dcfi'ct explained together with the recpiest that only school rearling should be doni', until the ]X‘riod of adolescence is over. 2. I’he myopia e.a.ses are n'-insjiected every 3 months, with a \ iew to deciding w hether it is rajiidly ])rogressive or not. .‘j. In the ra])idly progn^ssive myojiia. rlie so called malignant mvojha, a standard has been set of -oD error of refraction, and ehildren below this standard are considered to be specially defective. During 1027, iirovision Avas made by the School .Medical Ollicer for the special treatment of the.se children in ordinary schools. Instructions wen^ issued to parents and teachers warning them of the nature, of the defect, and detailing the preventive step.s, which include the use of special large printed text books, and the. use of blackboards and chalk for limited periods only, the remainder of the education being viva voce.