4
1,507,487, grains of the two preceding
years leaving a balance of 74,869 grains
only in hand on the 1st April, 1924. Of
the total supply of lymph, only 7,682
grains of lanolinated paste were issued
during the year, showing how thoroughly
the reputation of glycerinated lymph has
been established.
All the glycerinated stock as usual
was analysed bacteriologically on Agar
Plates at the Public Health Laboratory
and declared fit only after being tested
on guinea pigs.
Only such tested
lymph was issued to the public.
14. Different methods of vaccina-
tion.—During the year under review,
no vaccination was performed with
lymph direct from the calf. The total
number of primary and re-vaccination
operations performed with lanoline
lymph was 6,118 and 2,098 and
with glycerinated lymph
1,584,458
and 465,050
against 68,212 and
26,821, and 1,458,173 and 452,934 respec-
tively during the previous year; the per-
centage of success under each of these
methods being 96.2 and 61.1 and 95.9
and 56.8 against 92.7 and 47.8 and 96
and 59.8 respectively.
15. Inspections.—The
number of
cases inspected by the Assistant Direc-
tor of Public Health of the Burdwan
Circle is noted in Appendix V.
The
District
Health
Officers
including
the Civil Surgeons of
Darjeeling
and Chittagong
Hill Tracts ins-
pected 66,273 primary and
6,814
re-vaccination cases or 4.4 and 1.8
per cent. of the total persons vaccinated
in the Presidency. Of these, five Dis-
trict Health Officers, viz., Burdwan,
Hooghly, Murshidabad, Chittagong and
Noakhali inspected more than 5,000 cases
each, 11 from 2,000 to 5,000, 5 from 1,000
to 2,000 and the rest below 1,000. The
District Health Officers of Birbhum and
Howrah inspected only 227 and 307
operations.
The provincial vaccination inspecting
staff inspected 8,093 cases or 39.3 per
cent. of the total operations performed
in the Presidency.
Generally, each
Assistant Superintendent of Vaccination
inspected the work of all vaccinators
under him once during the season and in
some places twice.
16. General Remarks.—This is the
first year since the introduction of free
vaccination in rural areas that the
licensed system of vaccination was
totally abolished except for a few
months during the recess in the district
of Dacca.
Every District Board in
Bengal employs a District Health Offi-
cer except Darjeeling, where the Civil
Surgeon is still in charge, who I
hope would soon be relieved. I cannot
close this report without a warning to
all local bodies concerned and inviting
their attention to the forecast made
in the Bengal Public Health Report
for 1922. This is the fifth year since
the last big epidemic of smallpox and
there is every likelihood of the disease
assuming serious proportions if not
properly checked in time. I would
therefore very strongly urge these
bodies to devise and adopt measures
to restrict the dissemination of the
disease in their respective localities
before it is too late.
Smallpox is
an easily
preventible disease
and
this can be done only by vaccination.
In rural areas, the District Boards are
requested to rise to the occasion and pro-
vide sufficient funds for vaccination
work. The District Health Officers
should find out the centres of smallpox
and use every means to protect the people
by vaccination, re-vaccination and contact
vaccination in case of any occurrence of
the disease. They should, as soon as the
first case is reported, investigate the
origin of the disease and trace out the
source of infection. Towns and busy
places are always centres for the dissemi-
nation of the infection and with easy
communication it is generally carried to
the interior of the district. In munici-
palities the Chairmen should exert them-
selves to protect the people by vaccina-
tion by every possible means. The local
Government have already
provided
in the budget for 1924-25 an addi-
tional grant of Rs. 25,000 to suppress
outbreaks of smallpox epidemics. The
Public Health Department in co-opera-
tion with the local bodies will take every
possible step to prevent the spread of the
epidemic if timely information is given
to it.
17. The prescribed statements are
appended.
M. E. SUFI, D.P.H.,
Assistant Director of Public Health,
in charge of
Vaccination
and Vital
Statistics.
CALCUTTA,
The 20th November, 1924.