( 2 )
Second, except in the case of re-vaccinations, due to the fact that the districts
which suffered most from malaria are almost all situated in the First Circle. The
period of the greatest prevalence of the disease coincided with the first half of the
vaccination season, when work at one time was nearly at a standstill, there being
no children available for vaccination and, moreover, the vaccination staff also suffer-
ed greatly from the epidemic.
Famine also helped to reduce the number of children physically fit for vac-
cination while to a certain extent small-pox, measles and low birth-rate were
also responsible for the falling off in the work. In a few districts the causes of
decrease given by the District Superintendents of Vaccination are other than
those mentioned here, e. g., in Ballia plague was the cause ; in Mirzapur and
Benares the decrease is to a certain extent due to the fact that the vaccination work
hitherto done in the Family Domains of His Highness the Maharaja of Benares
was included in those districts, but in the year under report it has been shown
separately for reasons given in paragraph 2 above, in Mirzapur the work of the
assistant superintendent of vaccination and some vaccinators was also unsatis-
factory ; in Azamgarh plague inoculation scare, while in Muzaffarnagar and
Cawnpore cholera was a cause of decrease in addition to malaria.
Comparison with 1879—80.
6. Since malarial fever prevailed with great virulence in 1879, it will not be
out of place to compare the vaccination work of the
year 1879-80 with that of the year under report. A
reference to paragraph 55 of the Annual Sanitary Report for 1908 shows that the
mortality from malarial fever was higher in that year than in 1879, when vacci-
nation was only gradually making headway and was nothing like so popular as it
is now. The results however show that the work during the season under report
compares favourably with 1879 as is shown below :—
1879-80
1908-09
Total number
of vaccination
operations
performed.
647,427
1,456,785
Total number
of suceessful
primary vacci-
-ations.
524,735
1,258,662
Number of
persona success-
fully vaccinated
per 1,000 of
population.
12.42
28.30
Successful primary vaccina-
tions in different districts.
(Statement No. I.)
7. Excluding the Family Domains of His Highness the Maharaja of Benares,
only eight districts (including the Native State of
Tehri-Garhwal) show an increase in the number of
successful primary operations in 1908-9 over the
preceding year. Gorakhpur heads the list of districts showing the greatest number
(79,380) of successful primary operations in 1908-9. Basti follows with 55,539.
Then in order come Gonda with 42,564, Allahabad with 39,662 and Jaunpur with
39,602. Among the districts (including the Native State of Tehri-Garhwal) showing
the lowest number of successful primary vaccinations, are Dehra Dun with 4,453,
Naini Tal with 7,965, Native State of Tehri-Garhwal with 8,962 and Muttra
with 10,278. The Native State of Tehri-Garhwal shows an improvement over the
preceding year, but in Dehra Dun, Naini Tal and Muttra the decrease is due to the
reasons given above. In the Naini Tal district for some unaccountable reason
some of the batches of calf lymph supplied gave unsatisfactory results though lymph
taken from the same calf gave good results in the plains.
Successful vaccination and
degree of protection afforded.
(Statement No. I.)
8. As usual Garhwai heads the list of districts showing the greatest number
(113.03) of persons successfully vaccinated per 1,000
of population, followed by Almora with 66.19 and
Naini Tal with 64.84. Then in order come the Native
State of Tehri-Garhwal with 49.19, Hamirpur with
43.38, Jhansi with 39.79 and Dehra Dun with 38.97. Among the districts
showing the lowest number of persons successfully vaccinated per 1,000 of
population, Muttra stands first with 13.52, Farrukhabad with 15.96, Bara Banki
with 17.06, Partabgarh with 18.00 and Bareilly with 18.93. The reasons have
been explained above. Muttra suffered very severely from malaria and operations
were at one time quite at a standstill.
Mortality from small-pox.
9. The death-rate from small pox in 1908 was 1.26 against .47 in 1907, the
quinquennial average being .29. The subject has been
fully discussed in the Annual Sanitary Report for
1908.