17
Copy of a letter from J. E. Harrison, Esq., Civil Medical Officer, Sumbulpore,
to the Superintendent General of Vaccination, Central Provinces,—
No. 785, Dated Sumbulpore, the 4th May 1870.
I have the honor to submit the prescribed returns showing the working of the
special "Vaccine Establishment sanctioned for this District during the past year, and to offer
the following remarks with reference thereto.
2. The strength of the establishment was the same as in the previous year 1868-69,
and consisted of one Native Superintendent and 9 Vaccinators. The Native Superintendent
had remained here under your instructions and I employed the same men again as Vaccina-
tors. As these men had all already learnt their duties, I could trust them to commence ope-
rations in the villages in the interior of the district at once, and the number of operations
performed during the past year has thus been considerably in excess of that performed in
1868-69.
3. In the month of April 1869, after the regular operations for the year 1868-69 had
been concluded, small-pox in an epidemic form, and of a somewhat virulent type, showed itself
in the village of Talputtia, which is situated on the frontier of the Gangpore State in Chota
Nagpore, whence the infection had been communicated. Vaccination operations had not been
commenced in this village, which is somewhat large and populous, and there was conse-
quently a large number of cases and considerable mortality. It was feared also that the epi-
demic might spread to the neighbouring villages, and although it was then somewhat late in
the season, I sent out two Vaccinators, who operated upon all the children in the villages in
the immediate neighbourhood, and the progress of the epidemic was thus apparently checked.
This result had, I think, a good effect on the minds of the people in the vicinity who accepted
it as a conclusive proof of the value of vaccination as a prophylactic, but at the same time
I would mention that no such experience was needed to make the people generally willing to
have the operation performed on their children. All their prejudices against it have long
since been overcome, and in the past year as in previous years, they have brought their
children in crowds to receive the operation wherever the Vaccinators have gone.
4. I first commenced operations in the early part of October and in the villages imme-
diately around this, with a view to collecting supplies of fresh lymph, and as soon as this had
been done I divided the staff of Vaccinators into 4 divisions of 2 each, and set them to com-
mence work from the points where they had stopped at the close of the previous season. In
this way the first division commenced work near the village of Talputtia in Ooturteer, the
second division began on the south of the Raepore road in the Dukhinteer, and the third and
fourth divisions were employed in the Lukhunpore and Ambabhona pergunnahs of the Duk-
hmteer ; one Vaccinator was retained for work in the villages immediately around Sumbul-
pore, so as to have a constant supply of lymph collected under my own supervision, and the
Native Superintendent was employed in directing and inspecting the work of each of the four
divisions of Vaccinators above referred to, in turn. In this way the whole of the establish-
ment was fully utilized, and upwards of 499 villages were brought under the operation. At
the same time also, by making rapid tours over that part of the country where the Vaccina-
tors were employed, I was enabled to exercise a general supervision over their work, and to
note the results in 353 villages out of the 499 above referred to.
5. Our supplies of lymph were received chiefly from Nagpore, and this was found
to succeed well, and to work with vigour throughout the season. Most of the operations were,
however, performed with fresh lymph taken from patients who had been vaccinated here.
The people, I am glad to say, are now losing the fear that they once entertained of evil hap-
pening should they allow lymph to be taken from any of their children who had been vacci-
nated, and I have consequently had no difficulty during the past season in keeping up a steady
supply. The results of the year's operations have for this reason been particularly good ; there
have been but few unsuccessful operations and I found in my inspections that, in almost
all cases, a really good vaccine disease had been established.
6. In conducting the operations the Vaccinators have followed the same course as I indi-
cated in last year's report, and they have as hitherto received the greatest possible assistance
from the Gounteahs and Zemindars in whose villages the operations have been performed,
and it is owing in a great measure to this assistance that the Vaccinators have been able to
perform the large number of operations exhibited in the returns. These returns show that
the total number of operations peformed during the year amounted to 37,711, out of which
35,706 were successfully performed, while in 65 cases the result was doubtful, and in 1,940 it
was not successful. The proportion of successful cases has thus been 94.68 per cent., and
this is, I think, particularly satisfactory.