39
of contacts may not. have been carried out so thoroughly as was desirable,
the figures show that a good deal of work was done. A great many more
of those who were not dealt with by the Plague Staff, went into the
private camps and hutments of their own accord, and it may be hoped
that the work that was done went far to prevent the spread of infection.
The difficulties in the way of finding and sending contacts to camp were
greatly diminished by the assistance rendered from the discretional relief
fund to those whose livelihood was interfered with. In E Ward ino-
culation was to a large extent offered to contacts as an alternative to going
to camp ; and was often preferred, more especially in Tarwari, a section
that has long been in honorary charge of Mr. Lund. In B Ward South
the segregation, of contacts was especially unpopular, and when informa-
tion of a plague case was duly given, and the patient sent to hospital,
the contacts were not pressed to vacate their houses except while they
were being disinfected.
The District Officer, B Ward South, found that the removal of contacts
to camp was the principal cause of the concealment of cases and rendered
nugatory the efforts of the volunteers. In view of the fact that, if a plague
case is reported and removed in its earliest stages, the danger to friends
and neighbours is minimised, and in order to meet so far as possible
the objections of his people and thereby secure better information about
plague ; he was permitted to issue the following circular. It explains
itself:—
" When you hear of any illness, especially fever, in your house go and report it
"at once to the District Plague Office in Argyle Road. A Doctor will be sent to
" examine the case. If it is plague the patient should at once be sent to hospital
" where he will be well looked after and have a much better chance of recovering
" than if kept in the house. He will be allowed to go to any hospital he may choose.
" One or two attendants will be allowed to accompany him. His relations will be
"allowed to viáit him. The remainder of the people living in the same room with
" the patient will be requested to remove into another room while it is being disin-
" fected and cleaned. If it is not plague, the Doctor will record it and give a certi-
"ficate (if asked for) and in the event of death the authorities will know that it was
" not due to plague and there will be no trouble. But there will be trouble if the
" authorities having heard of a death due to an illness that has not been reported
" to them, get to know or suspect that the person died of plague. In that case
" those people living in the same room, as the deceased, will be liable to be sent to
" quarantine for 10 days. The reason for this being that people living in close con-
"tact with a plague-stricken man for three or four days are liable to become attack-
"ed themselves and if allowed to go where they like, may carry the disease into other
" houses and endanger the lives of many other healthy people. Whereas if a plague
"stricken man is at once removed from a house, there is little chance of the disease
" spreading in that house. In very special cases and then only with the sanction
" of the District Plague Officer patients may be treated in their own houses."
Evacuation of
infected houses
and localities.
The evacuation of thoroughly infected houses, was carried on system-
atically throughout the city. It is a measure which popular opinion
approves, and often the mere suggestion to the residents of a chawl that it
was better for them to go into camp for a bit was enough to set them