REPORT ON THE WORKING OF THE KING INSTITUTE, GUINDY
(3) K ala-azar investigation at Kayalpatnam. —An investigation
unit in charge of Dr. S. R. Pandit was despatched on 22nd May 1924 to
Kayalpatnam, a town in Tinnevelly district with a population of 12,862,
to report on the presence of kala-azar. The unit worked there until 8th
July 1924 and submitted an interesting report which went to prove the
presence of the disease in that town, and its prevalence amongst the
Muhammadan inhabitants only. The results of the unit's investigations
are as follows:—
(1) A hitherto unknown focus of kala-azar has been found at
Kayalpatnam, a seaport town in the Tinnevelly district, and there is
evidence that this focus of infection is only a part of a more extensive
epidemic area extending along this part of the Madras Presidency littoral.
(2) The infection is limited to the Muhammadan community
although Hindus and Muhammadans live in close proximity to each
other.
(3) 'Out of 122 cases examined, 56 were proved to be suffering
from kala-azar mostly by liver and spleen punctures.
(4) The disease appears to have been present in the area since
about the year 1884 and to have shown two epidemic phases, the first,
from about 1884 to 1909 ; and the second, the present one, since 1920.
(5) The disease was almost certainly introduced originally by
members of the Muhammadan community who had resided in endemic
areas such as Madras and Calcutta.
(6) The disease has shown no tendency to spread beyond the
Muhammadan community. Three surrounding villages in which random
samples of the population were examined, showed no signs of the disease.
This report has been forwarded to the Personal Assistant to the
Surgeon-General with the Government of Madras under this office
No. 1610, dated 15th December 1924, and a resume of it was read before
the Medical section of the Indian Science Congress held at Benares in
January 1925.
(4) The Malaria Survey at Mount Stuart and Top slip. — T h i s
investigation was undertaken on a requisition from the Forest Depart
-
ment in order to find out the suitability or otherwise of Top Slip as the
headquarters for the Forest establishment. It was carried out by
Dr. K. P. Menon and lasted from 13th July to 23rd September 1924. The
blood examination of all the forest personnel as well as of the indigenous
inhabitants revealed a very high degree of endemic malaria, the children
of the aboriginal inhabitants showing splenic enlargement to the extent
of 94 per cent. The following anopheles were bred out and identified :— -
A. maculatus, A. karwari, A. maculipalpis, A. barbirostris, A. leucos
-
phyrus, A. aitkeni and A. rossi. As the result of the investigation,
Top Slip was found to be a more suitable site than Mount Stuart, and
certain recommendations were made with a view to mitigate the incidence
of malaria at Top Slip.
(5) Enquiry into the prevalence of Kala-azar in Tinnevelly and
Rā mnā d districts and an Entomological survey of infected areas. —As
a result of the previous investigations carried out at Kayalpatnam,
it was suspected that kala-azar was present, but not diagnosed as
such, in other towns and villages in Tinnevelly and adjoining districts.
An investigation unit was therefore despatched from the Institute a
second time on 22nd August 1924. It was placed under Dr. K. V.
Krishnan with Mr. P. V. Sitarama Ayyar, M.A., to assist in the
entomological survey of the places visited. Lieut.-Col. S. R. Christophers,
C.I.E., O.B.E., I.M.S., the President of the Kala-Azar Commission, paid a
visit, while the unit was at Kayalpatnam, inspected the work and gave
certain advice in the matter of investigations. The work among the
Muhammadan women of the town who observe a strict purdah system
was greatly facilitated by the Surgeon-General kindly placing at the
16