( 4 )
Districts visited by the
Deputy Sanitary Commis¬
sioners. and the general
results of their inspections.
7. During the year Dr. O'Neill visited the districts of Jullundur,
Umballa, Rohtak, Delhi, Karnál, Hissar and Sirsa; and
Surgeon G. W. P. Dennys, while officiating for him (from
16th August 1883 to 10th January 1884) visited the
districts of Amritsar, Gurdáspur and Siálkot. The vaccin-
ations seen by Dr. O'Neill were, he observes, "of the usual type," and the
conduct of the vaccinators, so far as he could ascertain, has been fairly good. In
every district visited he made a point to see the Deputy Commissioner, if it
were possible to do so, and in no case did he hear of any complaints of a serious
nature of the general behaviour of the men of the Department. Dr. Doyle
inspected the districts of Shahpur, Dera Ismail Khan, Dera Gházi Khan,
Muzaffargarh, Montgomery, Mooltan and Lahore, besides Murree and Hazára,
which are his head-quarters during the summer. He submits the following
report of his inspection of each district:—
" Amongst the children of four villages which I visited, I noted the following results,
the vesicles being good. One had 7 vesicles, 135 had 6, 13 had 5, 7 had 4, 4 had 3, and
3 had 2. I then crossed over to Dera Ismail Khan. The whole district staff had remained
nearly two months in Dera Ismail Khan city, where vaccination is very difficult. The
Deputy Commissioner, Mr. Thorburn, endeavoured to impress the members, &c., with the
value and importance of vaccination.
" The following gentlemen gave willing assistance, namely, Gosáin Lalauji and Diwán
Sáhib, members, also Basanda Rám, member, Thákar Dás, Head Clerk, Treasury, and Boja
Rám, Head Clerk, Jail. Even with this assistance the work was very slow and difficult,
and demanded a great deal of patience and perseverance. Altogether between 1,100 and
1,200, mostly Hindús, had been vaccinated. The Muhammadan population, at the time I
left, was almost entirely unvaccinated. When I reached Dera Ismail Khan the work had
been just commenced in the district (Dera Ismail Khan tahsíl). As the staff was unable
to cover the Dera Ismail Khan tahsíl during the season 1882-83, arm-to-arm vaccination
had never before been carried out in this district. Inoculation had formerly been exten-
sively practised, while the vaccination that had been done in former years was, I think,
exclusively from crusts. I saw about 150 of these old vaccinations in different villages.
There was usually either one mark on one arm, or one mark on each arm, and in scarcely
any case have I seen good marks.
1case had 9 vesicles.
1
3
334
15
10
17
3
1
1
386
„
„
8
„
„
„ 7
„
„
„
6
„
„
„ 5
„
„
„
4
„
„
„ 3
„
„
„
2
„
„
„
1
„
„
„ 0
„
"There can be little doubt that total failures were frequent. Under these circum-
stances vaccination is naturally difficult at first, and the work is rendered slow by the
fact of the villages being usually wide apart. I saw the work being carried on in some
villages. It was being done arm-to-arm, and the vesicles were fair. In many cases,
however, the vaccinators were unable to vaccinate the full number of children, though, when
I visited these villages, the full number according to the list, or a number approaching
this, was vaccinated. At present the staff is far too small for the requirements of the
district. In 21 villages of the Dera Ismail Khan tahsíl, including the small municipal
town of Pahárpur, I noted the results shown in the margin. In
Dera Ismail Khan city I saw some children, a few at a time,
throughout the city. The vesicles were, as a rule, fair; the work
was somewhat uneven, owing to the difficulty of vaccinating in all
cases from arm-to-arm. Several have been re-vaccinated. Amongst
the schoolboys I saw some cases of old vaccination. These were
in most instances altogether superior to the old vaccinations in the
district. In those I saw there were usually three scars on one arm,
the marks being large and well-pitted. Considerable numbers of
Povindah children, also many grown-up persons amongst them, have
been vaccinated. The Povindahs are very careful to ascertain the result. Their children,
according to the vaccinators, yield finer vesicles than children of the plains do. Those
whom I saw had, in most cases, good vesicles.
3 cases had 7 vesicles.
689
51
19
55
25
11
1
754
„
„
6
„
„
„
5
„
„
„ 4
„
„
„
3
„
„
„
2
„
„
„
1
„
„
„
0
„
" In Dera Gházi Khan excellent arrangements have been
made since the time of introduction of the new scheme, and, as
the people take kindly to vaccination, the work goes on very well.
In the city the work was well done, and with comparatively
small waste of time. Dr. Moloney and Dr. Costello, on different
occasions, inspected a number of children and were satisfied with
the work, In 46 villages I noted the results as per margin.
" The work was not so good as would appear from the above marginal table, as the
quality and size of the vesicles differed greatly in different villages. The best work was done
by 1st-class vaccinator Gandá Singh. In Jámpur municipal town, in 90 children he made
528 punctures, and 522 of these developed into good vesicles. On the other hand, in villages
8 or 10 miles from Jámpur the vesicles were, in some cases, very poor. As some vaccinators
who had been locally employed were in the habit of making less than 6 punctures in a
notable proportion of cases, Dr. Costello, Civil Surgeon, has instructed them to make