[Maximum limit, 4 pages.]
SHORT NOTES ON VACCINATION FOR THE YEAR
1917-18.
THE following are the brief notes on vaccination in Bengal for the year
1917-18.
2. Officer in charge of the department.—I was in charge of the
department throughout the year.
Of the four Deputy Sanitary Commissioners attached to the four circles
in this Presidency, there was none in the Dacca Circle from 1st December
last, owing to Dr. Sufi's proceeding on long leave on account of impaired
health, and no suitable officer being available to act for him.
3. Strength of the Staff.—In Calcutta the number of inspecting officers
and vaccinators was 13 and 46 against 7 and 46 during the previous year,
and they numbered 131 and 1,427 in the provincial rural areas and 4 and 161
in mufassal municipalities and dispensaries, etc., as compared with 127, 1,371,
4 and 159, respectively. The increase in the number of inspecting officers
in rural areas was due to the appointment of three Inspectors in the Asansol
Mining Settlement area, and one temporary Sub-Inspector by the District
Board of Jalpaiguri.
4. General Operations.—The total number of. operations reported to
have been performed in this Presidency during the year under report was
1,614,601 on 1,606,619 persons against 1,627,549 on 1,598,428 persons during
the previous year. Of the total cases 1,357,340 were recorded as primary
vaccinations and 257,261 as re-vaccinations against 1,334,186 and 293,363
during 1916-17. There was a reported decrease of 12,948 in the total
number of operations performed during the year, but on the other hand there
was an increase of 8,191 in the number of persons stated to have been
vaccinated and of 23,154 in primary vaccinations, re-vaccinations, however,
showing a decrease of 36,102.
Out of 28 districts including Calcutta, an increased number of operations
were reported from 16 and a decrease from 12 districts. The increase
is specially noticeable in Bakarganj (32,968), Jalpaiguri (26,258), Pabna
(21,093), Noakhali (12,865), Tippera (10,485), Faridpur (8,009), Calcutta
(8,508), Burdwan (7,196) and Malda (4,536). How far these figures are in
accord with fact it is impossible to say, as under existing conditions it is
impossible to check the returns furnished by the subordinate inspect-
ing staff. In the case of Bakarganj where a special staff has been employed
there is some justification for accepting the figures ; but in certain of the
other districts named the accuracy of the returns is open to grave doubt.
In Jalpaiguri, Pabna and Malda the increased number of vaccinations was
explained as being due to the prevalence of small-pox in epidemic form.
The introduction of free vaccination in the first named district by the District
Board, also possibly accounts for a considerable increase in the number of
operations performed. The increase reported from Burdwan is also no doubt
due to free vaccination having been introduced in the Asansol Mining Settle-
ment area. Noakhali and Tippera are supposed to reflect the special activity
of the inspecting staff in performing vaccinations in the least protected areas
of the district. under what is known as the group system in the former, and in
persuading the people to accept vaccination in the latter. A marked decrease
in the number of vaccinations was reported from 24-Parganas (41,834), Midna-
pore (18,824), Bankura (18,026), Mymensingh (14,454). Nadia (8,710), Jessore
(8,146), Darjeeling (7,183), Khulna (6,548) and Hooghly, including Serampore,
(4,850). The decrease is generally attributed to lessened prevalence of
small-pox during the year under review, but in the case of the 24-Parganas,
Nadia, Jessore, Hooghly and Mymensingh, it is suggested that malaria was
largely responsible for the reduced number of vaccinations performed. In the
first named two districts, four vaccinators died from this disease and in all the
districts mentioned, the full staff of vaccinators were not at work on this
account. It is stated that many vaccinators worked from two to three months
only and then went home malaria-stricken and no substitutes were available.
The prevalence of cholera in the 24-Parganas in epidemic form during the