STATISTICS OF THE BRITISH ARMY IN INDIA FROM 1871 TO 1876.
[Chapter I.
58
The effects of age and length of
residence viewed in combination.
Taking age and length of service in combination, these are.
the results for the 368 deaths from 1873 to 1876 :
DEATHS FROM ENTERIC FEVER IN YEARS OF INDIAN SERVICE.
Ages.
T o t a l d e a t h s .
Under on
e
year.
Between
1 a n d 2
years.
2-3.
3-4.
4-5. 5-6.
6-7. Above 7. Per cent
of total.
24 and under 255
150
32
32
21
13
7
69
9 4
25 to 29
90
30
7
17
10
8
11
5
2
25
30 to 34
17
4
1
1
4
1
6
6
35 to 39
4
1
1
1
1
40 and upwards 2
1
1
Total
368
185
41
51
31
25
19
6
10
Per cent.
of total
25
50
75
100
Seventy-five per cent of these deaths occurred within three years of landing in India, and
94 per cent. of the total were among men under 30. Taken as it stands, the statement is
sufficiently striking, and it would probably be more so were errors in diagnosis eliminated. But
this must not be overlooked, that up to 31 there is a certain risk of contracting enteric fever ;
and that even after five or six years of residence, the fever may become developed in men under
34.
In my original report I stated that enteric fever has no geography. This is absolutely
The enteric fever of the non-
acclimatised has no geography,
although certain localities arc less
favourable than others for its
development.
borne out by subsequent experience. It has indeed become a
matter of popular observation, and the question has been asked by
military men, how it happens that no regiment or battery escapes
enteric fever in the first year, whatever cantonment of India
may be selected for it. Out of 73 different bodies, two regiments
and seven batteries only returned no case of enteric fever in the first year ; the heaviest loss of
the period occurred in the 2-22nd Regiment at Hazaribagh, which lost 18 out of 35 men at
- t a c k e d . I n t h e m a j o r i t y o f c a s e s , r e g i m e n t s a n d b r i g a d e s i n t h e m o r e u n s u i t a b l e s t a t i o n s h a v e
returned from 18 to 25 admissions in the first year.
We have only to note the proportion of deaths to admissions to recognise the fact that
While the mortality relative to
the number treated is high, it is
unduly exaggerated in our statis
- t i c a l
. r e t u r n s .
many admissions escape record, possibly because the nature of
the attack is not apprehended. Out of each hundred cases
treated, the number which terminated fatally is given as
under :—
1871.
1872.
1873.
1874.
1875.
1876.
48
52
33
55
71
44
I am not prepared to endorse as true -what is here shown. It seems more reasonable to
infer that many cases of enteric fever are returned as remittent or continued, than to accept
the alternative, that 50 per cent. at least of all cases of enteric fever treated have died in these
years.*
The statement which follows must be viewed in this aspect. We must not, however,
Demonstration of the universality
of the manifestation of enteric fever
in all Regiments in the first year,
1871—77.
forget, that heat influence enormously increases the tendency
to death in all eases of blood poisoning, and that the proportion of
deaths to cases treated must necessarily be very much in excess
in a tropical as compared with a temperate climate.
Admissions and Deaths from Enteric Fever in the First Year of Indian Service in all Regiments
and Batteries which, arrived between, 1871 and 1877.
1871.
A d m i s s i o n s .
Deaths.
1872.
Admissions. Deaths.
63rd Regiment
Hazaribagh
18
6
3 Battery
Ferozeyore
2
1
65 „
Agra
(?)
8a
4 „
Amritsar
1
72nd „
Umballa
4
2b
5 „
Attock
1
89th „
Cannanore
12
6
6 ,,
Jutogh
56th „
Poona
1
lc
7
„
Meean Meer
2
1
54th Regiment
Jullundur
7
5
1872.
70th
„
Rawalpindi .8
4
13th Brigade, Royal Artillery.
44th „
Kamptee
d
1 Battery
Rawalpindi and
48th (from Malta) Bellary
1
1
Hazara
68th Regiment
Poona
3
1
2 „
Fort William
1
*In 1877, 233 admissions with 92 deaths were returned, which gives a death-rate of 39.50 per cent.
a. Nine deaths from other fevers; several clearly enteric.
b. 200 lads of the Regiment went for the hot weather to Dugshai and Kasauli.
c. 746 cases of remittent and continued fevers were recorded. This Regiment lost 2 young men from enteric
fever in 1872.
d. 1,095 fever admissions with 2 deaths.