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Four thousand two hundred and ninety-four primary vaccinations were
inspected by the Civil Surgeon (Dr. R. Rouse), of which 4,276 were found to be
successful, the ratio of success being 99.58 per cent.
Vaccination operations were continued from April to June 1883, and the
vesicles were very good in the hot months of May and June. The people,
however, complained of vaccination being carried on during the hot months, and
it was therefore stopped about the middle of June. At the end of September
the whole of the vaccinators, including the native supervisor, were called to
Ludhiána from the district to commence vaccine operations. The first supply
of lymph sent by the Deputy Sanitary Commissioner was received on the 26th
September, and 2 children were vaccinated with it in the town of Ludhiána on
the 27th by punctures. Six good vesicles were produced on the 3rd October,
when the Civil Surgeon and native supervisor went to the spot and vaccinated
8 children from these vesicles, all of which proved successful on the 9th idem.
Twenty-two children were then vaccinated from the vesicles of 6 healthy children,
which gave good results on the 15th. Lymph was then filled in capillary tubes
and glasses, and the vaccinators were distributed as follows :—Two to Samrála
thána, 2 to Dehlon thána, and 2 to Dakha thána. With the second supply of
lymph received from the Deputy Sanitary Commissioner, 4 children were vac-
cinated on the 5th October in the village of Gil about 4 miles south of Ludhiána ;
11 good vesicles were produced on the 11th idem from which arm-to-arm
vaccination was commenced in Gil and the surrounding villages by 2 vaccinators
who were also directed to work in the town of Ludhiána and its vicinity. On
the 3rd December Dr. Rouse, the Civil Surgeon, inspected 321 children of 17
villages from Ludhiána to Dehlon and found all successful. On the 21st he saw
77 successful cases of 10 villages from Ludhiána to Samrála, and on the 30th he
verified the vaccine operations of 15 villages and found 173 successful cases.
Two vaccinators were sent to Jagraon tahsíl on the 20th November, and another
vaccinator was ordered to relieve another man at Ludhiána. Thus the work was
carried on simultaneously in the three tahsíls till the 10th of December, after
which date 4 vaccinators were ordered to Jagraon tahsíl on account of small-pox
at Galub and Chajawál. Up to the end of March 425 villages of the Ludhiána
tahsíl, 170 of the Jagraon tahsíl, and 269 of the Samrála tahsíl were vaccinated,
and in fact all the villages of this district were overhauled during the year.
Dr. Rouse remarks :—
" There is no active opposition to vaccination amongst the agricultural population,
but in the towns the Hindús offered as much resistance as possible, and a great many
children of this class are not yet vaccinated, and probably will not be. The greatest opposi-
tion, however, encountered by the vaccinators is by the petty Government officials, such as
muharrirs, &c., of Government offices. In fact, this class persistently refuse to have their
children vaccinated. The first fatal case of small-pox reported in the town of Ludhiána was
the child of the octroi muharrir. There are at present the three grandchildren of the
Moháfiz Daftar suffering from confluent small-pox, none of whom have been vaccinated."
In concluding his report Dr. Rouse remarks—
" I inspected 4,294 primary vaccine operations of 220 towns and villages, and of
these 4,276 were successful and 18 unsuccessful. I did not see any case of more than 6
punctures on the same child, and I do not recollect having seen a single case of re-vaccination,
although the number of unsuccessful cases seen by me was very small. I saw many children
who had less than 3 well-formed vesicles, probably 2 or 3 per cent. of the children inspected,
as the best authorities are of opinion that at least 3 well-formed vesicles are required to give
protection against small-pox."
During the year lymph was supplied in glasses from this district to the
Native States of Patiála, Sangrúr, Máler Kotla and Dujána.
Great assistance has been given by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr.
Wakefield, who ordered the Náib-Tahsildárs to accompany the vaccinators
whenever possible and from his assistance a great number of Hindú children
were vaccinated. The Assistant Surgeon, Bhagwán Dás of Ludhiána, and Hospital
Assistant, Irfán Ali of Jagraon, gave much help and assistance in vaccination,
and the latter personally carried out vaccination in the town of Jagraon.
Mr. Wakefield, in forwarding the Civil Surgeon's very interesting and
satisfactory report to this office, observes :—
" Enquiries made during the past camping tour have elicited that vaccination was
very successful during the year under report and is becoming more popular. . . . The