( 2 )
the total number of operations by the District and Special Staff fell from
38,192 to 26,959, it does not appear possible to associate this with any such
evidences of failure in the operations as might be expected to produce distrust in
the efficacy of the process. In Gujranwala, in 1895-96, the percentage of successful
vaccinations by the District Staff was 87.63 (primary) and 44.19 (re-vaccinations)
against provincial averages of 93.36 and 56.66 respectively ; the corresponding
figures for the district in 1896-97 being 85.48 and 28.06, showing a further
deterioration. In Jullundur, where however there was a distinct increase in
operations, if the work of the Special Staff be counted, the percentages of success
were bad in both years (75 71 and 27 21 in 1895-96, and 83.08 and 32.12 in
1896-97). The unfavourable percentages in both these districts and the diminution
in the operations in the former appear to His Honor to call for enquiry.
7. The percentages of success attained by the Special Staff when compared
with the figures for 1895 show a falling-off of 3.36 in the case of primary operations,
but a most satisfactory increase of 10.62 in the case of re-vaccinations. With
reference, however, to the very large increase in the number of these operations
performed by the Special Staff and to the remarks on the subject of re-vaccination
in previous reviews, it is to be hoped that operations of the kind were not
unnecessarily resorted to, and that the interval of seven years between
vaccination and re-vaccination, to which reference is made in paragraph 4 of
the review on the Vaccination Report for the year 1892-93, was duly observed.
A peculiar feature of the figures, and one of which some explanation should
have been attempted, is the lower percentage of success attained in primary
operations by the Special Staff in comparison with the other agencies, and its
steady diminution since 1893-94. In that year the Special Staff, with the
high percentage of 95.14, was more successful than any other agency. The
percentage fell in 1894-95 to 93.49, in 1895-96 to 90.29, and in the year
under review to 86.93, 7 per cent. below the percentage for the District Staff.
It appears from the figures given in Appendix A to the Report that this
percentage would be considerably improved if cases of which the results are
unknown were excluded from computation, but the Lieutenant-Governor does
not understand under what circumstances so large a proportion of the results
remain unknown, and will be glad to have this explained when the report
referred to in paragraph 10 of this review is submitted.
Paragraph 13.
8. It is satisfactory to hear that the work of the Divisional Inspectors
continues to be good. The question of making
their appointments sub. pro tem. has been very
properly made the subject of a separate letter by the Sanitary Commissioner, and
His Honor's orders will be passed on that letter in due course.
Paragraph 14 and Appendix A.
9. As regards the efficacy of the vaseline lymph, it is not possible to
accept the statement in Appendix A. of the Report
that the results obtained with this medium by the
Special Staff were only slightly inferior to those obtained with buffalo lymph.
In primary vaccinations with vaseline there were 855 admitted failures against
18,844 successful cases, a percentage of 4.3 ; in primary vaccinations with
buffalo lymph there were 675 admitted failures against 38,443 successful cases, a
percentage of only 1.7. In the case of re-vaccinations if cases of which the
results are unknown be excluded the percentage of failures was 33.9 with
vaseline lymph and only 20.7 with buffalo lymph. The results of the use of
the different kinds of lymph in the Province as a whole, which probably
do not furnish so satisfactory a basis for comparison, are given in paragraph 14
of the Report. These results are favourable to vaseline lymph under the head
of re-vaccinations, but distinctly unfavourable under the head of primary
vaccinations.
10. The Lieutenant-Governor is quite prepared to accept the view that
the difficulties in the preparation of the vaseline lymph and in the performance
of vaccination by its means can only gradually be overcome, and he does
not desire the foregoing remarks to be taken as in any way prejudging