Again, if three out of five of those examined need treatment, people will wonder whether among the thousand not examined there is the same proportion--three out of five, or six hundred--who have some trouble that needs attention. Having begun to wonder, they will ask questions, and will expect the board of health or the school physicians to see that the questions are answered. As has been proved in New York, taxpayers and the press will go farther and will demand that the annual budget provide for making general next year the benefits found to result last year from a test of health policies. The story of the prevalence of contagious diseases in school children could be told by a table such as is now in use by New York's department of health: TABLE XII PREVALENCE OF CONTAGIOUS DISEASES IN SCHOOL CHILDREN (Case rate schools) KEY: A: In School B: Among Absentee =========+========================================+====================== | | COMMUNICABLE | GENERAL COMMUNICABLE DISEASES[1] | DISEASES OF EYE SCHOOL | | AND SKIN[2] +----------------------------------------+----------+----------- | NUMBER | | | +----------+-----------+-----+ Number per| |Number |Found by | Reported | | 1000 |Number |per 1000 |Inspectors| by | | Registered|found by |Registered +-----+----+ Attending + + in Schools+Inspectors|in Schools | A | B | Physician |Total| Inspected |and Nurses|Inspected ---------+-----+----+-----------+-----+-----------+----------+----------- A | | | | | | | B | | | | | | | C | | | | | | | =========+=====+====+===========+=====+===========+==========+=========== [1] Smallpox, diphtheria, scarlet fever, measles, chicken pox, mumps, and whooping cough; excluded when found. [2] Trachoma and other contagious eye diseases, ringworm, impetigo, scabies, favus, and pediculosis; excluded only for persistent nontreatment. Another table shows the following facts for each disease: TABLE XIII CONTAGIOUS DISEASES FOUND IN SCHOOLS BY INSPECTORS AND NURSES (Number and disposition of cases) KEY: A: Diphtheria J: Other B: Scarlet fever K: Ringworm C: Measles L: Impetigo D: Smallpox M: Scabies E: Chicken pox N: Favus F: Whooping cough O: Pediculosis G: Mumps P: Miscellaneous H: Total Q: Total I: Trachoma