( 2 )
The principal decrease occurred in Palamau (12,824), Birbhum (8,715),
Midnapore (7,464), Gaya (6,988), Shahabad (6,872), Burdwan (6,804), Patna
(6,107), Darjeeling (5,639), Jessore (5,589), and Howrah (5,225).
In Balasore the increase is attributed to (a) the good health of the district,
(b) absence of famine and flood, (c) decrease in the prices of food-grains which
enabled the poor to pay the vaccination fees, and (d) chiefly to the prolonged
tour of the Civil Surgeon on account of the neglected condition of vaccination
in the district. As regards Ranchi no explanation of the increase has been
furnished by the Civil Surgeon. In Saran it is said to be due to an increase in
the number of vaccinators, while in Singhbhum it is owing to operations having
been carried on in larger areas than those taken up in the previous years.
The Civil Surgeon of Hazaribagh attributes the increase to the fact that larger
elakas were given to the vaccinators by reducing their number, which encour-
aged them to work harder in the hope of getting more fees. In Sambalpur
the vaccinators attended to their work more regularly, there being less illness
among them than in the previous year, and hence the increase, while in
Monghyr it is attributed to the increased activity of the staff.
The decrease in vaccination in the districts named above is due to much
less prevalence of small-pox in the past year than in the previous one. The
explanation may be considered satisfactory, as there is no doubt that the
presence or absence of an epidemic outbreak of small-pox in a district affects
the total number of operations performed in it.
Protection afforded to infants.
5. During the past year 1910-11) out of 1,676,650, the estimated
number of infants under one year available for
vaccination (1,006.829), that is 600.50 per thousand,
were successfully vaccinated against 534.54 during 1907-08, which was the last
year of the previous triennial period. In two districts, viz., Ranchi and
Sambalpore, the number of recorded protected infants exceeds the available
population. This is evidently due to the inclusion of some children above
one year of age in the returns by miscalculation of age on the part of
illiterate vaccinators. Making due allowance for inaccuracies of this kind,
it may be stated generally that there is a steady increase in infant vaccination
from year to year.
In 24 districts (against 19 of 1907-08, the last year of the previous trien-
nial period), viz., Ranchi, Sambalpore, Palamau, Cuttack, Hazaribagh,
Murshidabad, Manbhum, Singhbhum, Balasore, Bhagalpur, Sonthal Parganas,
Muzaffarpur, Nadia, Darjeeling, Monghyr, Purnea, Saran, Champaran, Angul,
Darbhanga, Gaya, Midnapore, Burdwan and Bankura, the protection was over
500 per mille, while the lowest rate recorded, viz., in the district of Shahabad,
is about 300 per thousand against 236 in Bankura in 1907-08.
The protection afforded to infants in municipalities is shown in Appendix
VII attached to the report. It will be seen that 773.68 per mille of the surviving
infant population was protected during the past year, against 799.98 during
1909-10 and 942.30 during the year before. The attention of Civil Surgeons
has as usual been drawn to their responsibility in the matter of infant
vaccination in towns, wherever the protection is inadequate.
Recess-work.
6. During the recess or non-working season of 1910-11, 141,142 opera-
tions were performed in connection with small-pox
epidemics and the up-keep of lymph for emergen-
cies, against 276,417 in 1909-10 and 181,243 in 1908-09. The average of
the triennial period under review was 193,765, against 151,349 of 1906-08.
The decrease in the number of operations during the recess season of the past
year is due to much less prevalence of small-pox as compared with that of
previous years.
Six-puncture vaccination.
7. During the past year 842,895 successful primary operations were
performed in six points, against 822,512 in 1909-10
and 825,233 in 1908-09.
The number of re-
vaccinations was 12,305, against 20,061 in 1909-10 and 19,670 in 1908-09.
The average of the triennial period in primary vaccination and revaccination
was 830,213 and 17,345, against 773,687 and 9,140 of the previous epoch.
Factory and Tea Garden vac-
cination.
8. During 1910-11 the total number of primary and revaccination oper-
ations performed in factories and tea gardens in
Bengal was 3,602 and 260, against 3,961 and 671,
respectively, in 1909-10 and 2,945 and 1,403 in
1908-09. The ratio of success in primary and revaccination cases was 97.14