The Health bulletin [serial] - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

2 ItTHE HEALTH BULLETIX.COUNTY HEALTH OFFICERSWhat They Are Doing, According toTheir Own ReportsLike all Gaul, the monthly reportsof the physicians employed by the variouscounties can, for the purpose ofcomparison, be conveniently dividedinto three parts:I. Reports From County Physiciaxs.Under the recently amended healthlaws it is no longer required of thecounty physicians to mail to the StateBoard of Health reports covering theiractivities, as they are entirely in therealm of curative medicine—visitingcounty dependents—and a record ofsuch work is of no value to a departmentwhose activities are devoted entirelyto preventive medicine.II.Reports Not Subject to Check.Certain reports from the whole-timehealth officers are vague, indefinite,and not subject to check. As an illustrationof this, we have reports statingthat "many children have been examined";"many defects found"; and that"there is a great deal of typhoid in ourcounty." Other reports give the numberof schools visited and the numbe.-of children examined, but omit thenames and addresses of the principalsof such schools and the names and addressesof the children examined. Suchreports as these are not only vagueand indefinite, but inasmuch as it isabsolutely impossible to check them,they are utterly worthless.IllIdeal Reports.Buncombe Report.As an example the accompanying cutis used. This cut is a reproduction ofthe report of Dr. Sevier, the V/hole-Time County Health Officer of Buncombe.The report covers his activitiesduring the first month of office.It will be seen that during the lasteight days of this month Dr. Seviervisited nine rural schools and lecturedon sanitation and hygiene at each ofthem. The total enrollment is 539;the number examined is 279. Eachpupil received a careful physical examination,as well as an examinationof the special organs, such as the nose,throat, eyes and ears. Of the 279 childrenexamined, he found 112 children,or a fraction more than 48 per cent, tobe defective; or, in other vv^ords, toneed medical attention so that theymight develop into healthy and happvmen and women, not physically handicapped in the struggle for life, health,happiness and usefulness. The 112children who proved to be defectivewere so from the follo^Aing causes:Forty-four had astigmatism (nearsightedness) ;eleven had defectiv.-^hearing as a result of adenoid.^ anddiseased tonsils ;thirty-eight had teeththat were so defective as to seriouslyaffect their health; thirty-six had enlargedtonsils, producing a susceptibilitynot only to diphtheria, but toother contagious diseases common tochildhood; thirty-one had adenoids:two had skin defects; three had enlargedglands of such a character asto arouse a suspicion of consumption;six children v,-ere excluded fromschool on account of contagious lesions.Each child that proved to be d?-fective was given a card upon whichwas printed an important message tothe parents calling their attention tothe nature of the defect and urgingthat the child be placed in the handsof a competent physician so that thedefect might be remedied. This reportfurther shows that the parents of nineof these children carried out the doctor'sinstructions and had the defectspromptly removed during the monthin which they were examined. Othershave doubtless followed since.SampsonReport.Another example of a good reportonefrom Dr. George M. Cooper, Whole-