9
Department were promptly deputed to
the affected places as soon as any infor-
mation of an outbreak was received and
were constantly kept on tour during the
period from November 1926 to May
1927. A hundred temporary Sanitary
Inspectors and 20 temporary Sub-Assis-
tant Surgeons placed on epidemic duty
in several districts were instructed to
help the local authorities in vaccinating
the people. The District Inspectors and
Sub-Inspectors of Vaccination were also
directed to do vaccination themselves,
in addition to inspection. I also visited
several districts to investigate the cause
of the local continuance of the epidemic
and advised the local health authorities.
13. Different Methods of Vaccina-
tion.—No vaccination performed with
lymph taken direct from the calf is done
any more in
Bengal. Glycerinated
lymph was generally used, though a few
Municipalities in the districts of Mid-
napur, Hooghly and Murshidabad in-
dented for lanoline paste and perform-
ed with it a total number of 3,895 pri-
mary and 7,939 re-vaccination opera-
tions, of which 92.8 per cent. and 24.7
per cent., respectively, were successful.
A success of 84.8 per cent. in re-vacci-
nation was reported from Midnapur
Municipality, but this figure is apparent-
ly erroneous and requires investigation.
The total number of primary vaccina-
tions and re-vacciations performed with
glycerine lymph was
1,737,906 and
1,528,841,
against
1,748,675
and
1,275,712 respectively during the previ-
ous year, and the percentages of success
were 951 and 51.5, against 96.2 and
55.5 respectively.
14. Inspections.—The
District
Health Officer of Chittagong inspected
15.7 per cent. and that of Noakhali 11 .8
per cent. of the total number of vaccina-
tions performed. The record of inspec-
tion work of some of the District Health
Officers is extremely disappointing. The
District Health Officers of Midnapur,
where small-pox was very severe and
widespread, spent only 47 days on tour,
the number
of
persons
inspected
by
him not being
stated
in
his report. The District Health Offi-
cer of Birbhum was out on tour for only
.39 days and inspected 721 persons, while
that of Nadia for only 3 days, inspecting
96 persons during the whole course of the
year. It is regretted that some of the
District Health Officers have not yet
sufficiently realised their heavy responsi-
bilities. Vigilant and careful inspection
is necessary to give an impetus to the
staff under them to discharge their duties
vigorously, especially when the number
of deaths from small-pox is increasing
year after year. Such a personal con-
trol is demanded to prevent unreliable
figures being returned only to give a false
sense of security. The district vaccina-
tion inspecting staff inspected 424,002
primary and 164,435 re-vaccination
cases, or 24.5 and 11.3 per cent. of the
total number of vaccinations performed
in the province during 1926-27, against
676,201 primary and 220,625 re-vacci-
nations, or 41.2 and 22.6 per cent., res-
pectively, during the previous year. The
decrease was due to their having been
kept very busy in coping with the epide-
mic in the various parts of their districts,
and so they could not possibly
spare
much time in undertaking regular in-
spection work. In the rural areas, the
highest percentage of primary
cases
(102.7) was inspected by the Assistant
Superintendents of Vaccination of the
Howrah district and that of re-vaccina-
tions (51.8) by those of the Chittagong
Hill Tracts, while the lowest percentage
of inspections, both of primary and re-
vaccination cases (3.9 and 2.8), was
returned from the
Malda
district
where the small-pox cases were very
scattered.
The
highest
percen-
tage of inspection
of
both
pri-
mary and re-vaccination operations by
the Municipal Superintendents of Vac-
cination was recorded in the Rajshahi
district, while the lowest was returned
from Jessore in case of primary vaccina-
tions and from Bakarganj in that of vac-
cinations .
15. Bengal
Vaccine Depôt.—The
central depôt at Intally is the present
sole source of supply of vaccine lymph.
The total output of lymph during
the
year was 2,680,464, against 2,470,607
and 1,975,780 grains of the two previous
years. Two thousand, eight
hundred
and eighty-three calves were vaccinated
during the year, against, 2,654 and 2,440
of the two preceding years, but pulp
was collected from 2,668 only. The
average yield of pulp per calf during
the year was 251 grains, against
204 29 grains and 182.14 grains of the
previous two years. Owing to the heavy
demands on account of the prevalence
of small-pox, 195,840 grains of lymph
were purchased from Bihar and Orissa
and Madras; 2,654,690 grains of lymph
were issued during the year, of which
2,650,635 grains were glycerinated and