ABSTRACT OF REPORTS BY CIVIL SURGEONS.
89
was not so energetic as the one who worked in the preceding year, but who, being a permanent
compounder in the Pooree Dispensary, could not be spared for this duty ; that the area of
operations was smaller, the work having been mainly confined to the town of Pooree and
its immediate neighbourhood, where opposition to vaccination is very strong, while in 1879-80
the town of Pipli and its neighbourhood were also vaccinated; and that the opposition to
vaccination is stronger when small-pox is prevailing, as it is believed that to offer a check
to the disease would cause the displeasure of the goddess of small-pox. The success that
attended the re-vaccinations is suspicious. The number of births registered in this town
amounted to 535, being at the rate of 23.57 per 1,000 of population. The figure representing
infants vaccinated, contrasted with this number, yields a percentage of only 2.99 infant
vaccinations to number born. Of the Hindu population 2.51 per cent. were vaccinated,
of the Mahomedan 2.30 per cent., and of the Christian 78.57 per cent. Besides inspec-
ting a good many cases in the town, Dr. Gupta visited five small outlying villages
within four miles of the town and saw 165 primary vaccinations, of which 145 were verified
to be successful. As before stated, vaccination is actively opposed in the town, but in the
mofussil the resistance is passive. Inoculation is said to be pretty widely practised in the
district. From tables furnished by Dr. Gupta it appears that 296 persons were inoculated
in the several thanas in the district, of whom 116 recovered, one died, and of 179 the
results were not known. These inoculations took place during the months of January to
May and August. The corresponding figures of the previous year were 911 inoculated, 718
cured, no deaths, and 193 unknown. These figures probably do not include all the cases
of inoculation. The smallness of the number inoculated this year is referred to the fact
that as small-pox prevailed in different parts of the district, comparatively fewer persons
were inoculated. On the whole, however, these figures furnish evidence that this dangerous
practice is approved by the people and freely resorted to. This town suffered very severely
from small-pox during the year under review, particularly during the latter months of
December 1880 to March 1881, when 290 out of the 340 total casualties of the year
occurred. On the whole the death-rate' amounted to so much as 14.98 per 1,000 of the
population.
48. Balasore.—No vaccinators were attached to any of the dispensaries in the district.
Only one vaccinator was employed in the Balasore town for five months at Rs. 4 per mensem
and one anna for every successful case, paid from municipal funds. His work was solely
confined within municipal limits, and the civil authorities and the influential persons,
contrary to the experience of the past year, rendered assistance in promoting the oper-
ations. The lymph was obtained from this office, and the virus kept up by arm-to-
arm vaccination and from crusts. The work of the year is shown in the subjoined table,
contrasted with that of the preceding year :—
In 1880-81...
In 1879-80...
Total number vaccinated.
1,275
306
Average number vaccinated by
each vaccinator.
1,275
306
PRIMARY VACCINATIONS.
Total.
1,249
236
Successful.
Under one year.
102
One year
and
under six.
750
No data.
Total of all ages.
1,178
183
Re-vaccin-
ations.
Total.
26
70
Successful.
15
61
Percentages
of success-
ful cases.
Primary.
94.3
77.5
Re-vaccination.
57.7
87.1
RELIGION OF THE VACCINATED.
Number vaccinated.
Hindus.
1,096
Mahomedans.
141
Christians.
38
Other races.
...
Proportion per cent. to
total vaccinated.
Hindus.
85.9
Mahomedans.
11.1
Christians.
3.0
Other races.
...
No data.
There was considerable more work done, and its quality was much superior and satis-
factory. Births are not registered in this town; but calculating the infant vaccinations on
the estimated births, 528 in number, the percentage of infants vaccinated to number born
amounts to 19.31. The class populations were operated on at the following rates:—Hindus
at 7.57 per cent., Mahomedans at 5 50 per cent., and Christians at 9.50 per cent. The
Civil Surgeons visited several portions of the town, saw 284 vaccinations and verified
264 cases. Of this number 200 were seen by Dr. Zorab with 187 successes, and the remainder
by Assistant Surgeon Kamikanath Acharjee when he officiated for Dr. Zorab. The Civil
Hospital Assistants visited the portions of the town not seen by the Civil Surgeons, and
found that 991 persons had been vaccinated, 929 successfully. Thus the whole of both
the primary and re-vaccinations and the total of the successful operations were verified.
No action was stated to have been taken to induce inoculators to practise vaccination, but
the Commissioner of the Division having called the attention of the Magistrate to the subject,
it appeared from a subsequent report that the Civil Surgeon had made repeated endeavours
to train inoculators, but without success, To one ex-inoculator he paid from his own pocket
Rs. 7 per month, but when his work was examined there were strong reasons to believe
that he was carrying on inoculation, the difference being that the upper arm, instead of the
forearm, was the site selected for the puncture, to imitate vaccination, in the hope of
z