ABSTRACTS OF REPORTS FROM CIVIL SURGEONS.
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EASTERN DISTRICTS—DACCA DIVISION.
Dacca district.
Dacca district.—Dr. Wise reports there are six vaccinators attached to the Mitford
hospital, each receiving Rs. 10 a month; three are paid by Government, and three by the
municipality of Dacca. They are said to have been constantly employed throughout the
year on account of the importation of small-pox into the town from the district. The town
was divided into three parts, and two vaccinators were allotted to each. Three thousand and
two persons are said to have been vaccinated, of whom 2,629, or 90.2 per cent. were successful;
and 51 re-vaccinated, of whom 22 were successful. The civil surgeon, or the house-surgeon
of the Mitford hospital, inspected the operations once a week. Dr. Wise writes: " I can
confidently assert that the prejudices of the people against vaccination have not diminished
during the last seven years." Inoculation is said to be practised very generally throughout the
district, and one inoculator was bold enough to inoculate seven Mahamedan children at
Dacca itself, where Act IV (B.C.) of 1865 is in force. The man was caught, tried, and
fined Rs. 15, or 10 days' rigorous imprisonment in default. Dr. Wise saw all the inoculated
children, and was surprised at the paucity of the pustules and at the mildness of the
inoculated disease. Dr. Wise reports that " small-pox was in the city or neighbourhood
during the greater part of the year. On each occasion of its appearance it was traced to
inoculation. By vaccinating as many of the unprotected children in the houses around as
possible, the disease was confined within limits beyond which it never spread."
Blank returns are submitted from all the branch dispensaries. As Dacca is included in
the eastern Bengal vaccine circle, dispensary vaccination has become unnecessary.
Fureedpore.
Fureedpore district.—Dr. Bose, civil surgeon, states there is one vaccinator attached
to the dispensary, who is paid Rs. 10 a month by Government, and who works all the year
round. Mr. Wells, the magistrate, takes a great interest in vaccination, and gives every aid.
He has put an inhibition on inoculation within five miles of the town The vaccinator
works in the town and also in the neighbouring villages. One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-six persons are said to have been vaccinated, of whom 1,664, or 93.32 per cent., were
successful. The civil surgeon inspected every case in the jail and town, and occasionally went
out to the village to inspect the vaccinations done there. The people are reported to be
getting more favorably disposed towards vaccination than before, as they now seek its
protection during epidemics of small-pox. Inoculation is practised in the district. Dr. Bose's
efforts to induce inoculators to adopt vaccination have hitherto been in vain He writes
thus about small-pox:—" There was no epidemic prevalence of the disease during the year
to require exceptional measures." Blank returns are submitted from the branch dispensaries
of Puddumdee and Goalundo. The superintendent of the Dacca circle vaccinated some 8,000
persons in thana Goalundo, district Fureedpore.
Backergunge.
Backergunge district.—Dr. C. E. W. Bensley was civil surgeon during the past year.
The report is submitted by the assistant surgeon of the dispensary. There was one vaccinator,
who was paid Rs. 10 by Government; he worked within municipal limits, and vaccinated
1,705 persons, of whom 1,150, or 72.6 per cent. were successful. The civil surgeon and his
assistant inspected the cases once a week, and saw about 80 per cent. of the total number
vaccinated. Educated persons prefer vaccination to inoculation, while the ignorant do just
the reverse. Inoculation is not practised in the town, but is said to be prevalent in the district.
Two years ago the civil surgeon made a vain attempt to induce inoculators to change their
practise. There was no epidemic of small-pox in the town or district, but a few sporadic
cases occured in both.
Mymensingh.
Mymensingh district.—Mr. Shaw, civil surgeon, reports there is one Government vaccinator
attached to the dispensary on Rs. 10 ; he works generally within the town, and is
occasionally sent out to villages at a distance of 5 to 10 miles. Six hundred and twenty-nine
persons are said to have been vaccinated, of whom 358, or 57 per cent., were successful. This
low percentage of success is attributed to the failure of the lymph supplied from Calcutta on
several occasions from November to April. The vaccinator was more successful with crusts,
which he had preserved from last year. The civil surgeon inspected the cases in the jail, and
those that were brought to him. There is no active opposition to vaccination. Inoculation is
extensively practised in the district, but no data as to mortality are available. A few sporadic
cases of small-pox were reported in the town and also from the district.
Reports are submitted from the branch dispensaries. At Tangail one vaccinator was
entertained from 10th January on Rs. 10, paid out of the local funds; but as the lymph
sent from Calcutta repeatedly failed, his services were dispensed with at the end of the month.
He was again appointed from 1st March, and worked in the villages across the river from
Tangail. The assistant surgeon of the dispensary called on the principal men of the villages,
and urged them to have their children vaccinated. One hundred and seventy-five persons
were vaccinated, against 855 of the previous year, with 88 per cent. of success. The
decrease of work was owing to the repeated failure of lymph from November to March. The
last supply received on 1st March proved successful.
At the remaining branch dispensaries the native doctors performed a few vaccinations.