REPORT ON THE WORKI NG OF THE KI NG I NSTI TUTE, GUI NDY
APPENDIX No. II.
REPORT ON THE WORKING OF THE KING INSTITUTE CAMP
LABORATORY, ALIPURAM JAIL, BELLARY,
BY
J. H. THEODORE, I.M.D., Military Assistant Surgeon.
Under orders from the Director of the Institute, I proceeded in charge of a camp
laboratory to Bellary on 28th March 1922, taking with me the necessary laboratory equip-
ment and one laboratory attendant.
Owing to the abnormally high sick rate prevailing at the Moplah Camp Jail, the Director
of the Institute had proceeded, a few days. previously, to inspect the jail. On viewing the
situation he decided to send out a camp laboratory.
The following diseases were prevalent at the time of the Director's inspection, viz.,
Dysentery, Chicken-pox, Cerebro-spinal fever and the Enteric group of fevers. These were
assuming epidemic form.
I received detailed instructions from the Director as to the nature of the bacteriological
examinations to be carried out and the sanitary methods to be adopted in controlling the
epidemics.
The camp laboratory left the King Institute within 24 hours notice reaching Bellary the
following morning.
The laboratory was accommodated in rooms selected by the Director in the Moplah Jail
Hospital. The camp laboratory remained at Bellary for six months. It was inspected
during this period by the Director and the Assistant Director of the Institute who entirely
directed its working.
The Laboratory was run on the principle that it was an off-shoot of the King Institute.
Media, Stains, etc., were made up at the Institute and sent in convenient bulk to the
laboratory, as they were required. This procedure obviated the necessity for opening a
separate bacteriological kitchen at Bellary, and thus reduced the staff and equipment to a
minimum.
The arrangement was found to work well and little or no inconvenience was encountered
on this score.
The camp laboratory, in certain cases could undertake only the preliminary
examinations of specimens. These were then sent up to the Institute for further detailed
examination.
The number of specimens examined at the laboratory totalled 4,043 for the six months;
in addition 61,080 specimens of excreta from 5,090 convicts were examined microscopically.
with a view to the detection of latent dysentery cases.
Dysentery.
Bowel complaints had shown an alarming tendency to increase since the beginning of
January. There were 385 cases in hospital, out of a total jail population of 4,400 on the day
on which the camp laboratory commenced to work. The programme of work in connexion
with this disease, as detailed by the Director, was based on his original work in the Bengal
j ail. This consisted in the first place of a repeated examination for 12 consecutive days of
the stools of the entire jail population. The object of the investigation was to detect convicts
suffering from latent dysentery, who were themselves swelling the number of cases in
hospital, and were the potential agents for spreading the disease, amongst the non-infected
popu lation.
By this means the whole jail population was ultimately divided into two main
groups, viz.—
( 1 ) t h e h e a l t h y i n d i v i d u a l s o r t h e n o r m a l p o p u l a t i o n ,
( 2 ) c a s e s s u f f e r i n g f r o m l a t e n t , d y s e n t e r y o r t h ea
b n o r m a l
p o p u l a t i o n .
The utility of this method became apparent almost immediately, from the rapidity with
which the epidemic was brought under control. The number of cases admitted for dysentery
dropped from 385 in March to 110 in April and to 80 in May with a regular decline for the
rest of the period, in spite of a steady increase in the population of the jail. (See chart).
A total of 4,033 convicts were examined during the first month and 1,250 of these were
discovered to be suffering from latent dysentery, viz, 30.9 per-cent.