11
8. Undhera.- Plague broke out in this agricultural village, which is
situated 6 miles from Baroda, in the end of December 1897. According to a
census taken by the Baroda authorities on 5th January 1898, there were 1,031
souls in the village. Between that date and 12th February, when the inocula-
tions were performed, 76 persons died of plague, 10 had left the village, and 5
were born, thus leaving 950 persons alive on the latter date. This is equivalent
to a death rate of 766 per mille per annum, and will serve to show how virulent
the epidemic was. On 12th February the village was visited by Mr. Haffkine,
Major Bannerman, Indian Medical Service, the chief plague authorities of
Baroda State, and some half-dozen local medical men, and by them inoculation
of 513 of the inhabitants was carried out the same day. By reference to the
census papers the whole of the inhabitants were called out house by house, and
the half of each household inoculated. In this way an endeavour was made to
inoculate half the men, half the women and half the children in each family,
and to arrange that a fairly equal proportion of the sickly looking should be
placed in each division. That the division effected was a fair one will be manifest
from the following table, which shows the sex and age distribution of the inhabi-
tants of the 28 houses in which plague cases occurred after the inoculation:—
Ages.
Five years and under
... {
Between 6 and 59 years in {
elusive
...
... {
{
Sixty years and over ... {
Total ..
Males
Females
Males
Females
Males
Females
Inoculated.
... 4 }
{
} =13 {
... 9
}
C
... 34
}
{
=54
{ = 20 }
... 20
3}
{
. . . 1}= 4
71
Males
Females
Males
Females
Males
Females
Not inoculated.
...5 }
... 5 }
... 18 }
... 33 }
... 1 }
... 2}
= 10
=54
= 3
64
An investigation as to the results of the inoculations in Undhera was made
on 4th April 1898 by Surgeon-General R,. Harvey, M.D., C.B., Director-General,
Indian Medical Service, Mr. Haffkine, Major Bannerman, I. M. S., and Captain
Dyson, I. M. S., with the aid of the local authorities of Baroda. Each house in
which a plague case had occurred since the 12th February, was visited, and the
occurrences among the members ascertained by personal inquiry from the sur-
vivors, by reference to the hospital register, and from the census papers, in which
the doses of prophylactic administered had been entered. The following is the
result of this investigation. The plague continued in the village for 42 days
after the inoculations were performed, and affected 28 families.
Among the inoculated.
(a) There were no deaths from
causes other than plague.
(b) There were no deaths during
the first 8 days after inoculation, the
first fatality being recorded on the
21st, 8 clear days after.
(c) From the 15th February till
the end of the epidemic there were 8
attacks of plague, of which 3 had a
fatal termination.
Among the uninoculated.
(a) A child aged 1 year, died of
bronchitis on 21st February 1898.
(o) Three died of plague during
the first 3 days following the inocu-
lation, and are therefore omitted from
the calculations as having been attack-
ed before the inoculations were
carried out.
(c) From the 15th of February
till the end of the epidemic, 27 more
attacks of plague [occurred, of whom
26 died.
One of the three fatal cases among the inoculated had no interval between
the inoculation fever and the manifestation of plague ; the others had apyretic
intervals of 6 and 8 days respectively.