2
NOTES AND STATISTICS ON VACCINATION IN BURMA FOR THE YEAR 1921-22.
year. All districts of Pegu Division except Pegu district show an increase in
primary vaccination, the falling off in Pegu district amounting to 957 operations.
In Irrawaddy Division, Bassein district shows a large decrease of 5,705 primary
cases, and Myaungmya district of 320 ; while Pyapôn district returned the very
satisfactory increase of 7,050 cases. Four districts of Tenasserim Division return
a deficit of primary operations, the decrease in Amherst district being 16,219,
and Thatôn district 9,117. In the former district 39 cases of small-pox and in
the latter 160 were reported, but these failed to exert the usual stimulus to
increase vaccination work.
In Mandalay Division the total increase in primary vaccination was 6,917 in
four districts, Bhamo showing a deficit of 1,197 cases. Mandalay district is res-
ponsible for the major part of the increase (5,828 excess operations) ; nearly all
the excess operations (4,143) were performed in Mandalay city. Sagaing Division
returns an increase in primary vaccination of 8,449 operations, shared in, but un-
equally, by all five districts, Shwebo, Lower Chindwin and the Chin Hills all show-
ing an excess of over 2,000, the Upper Chindwin district of only 171 operations.
Three districts of Magwe Division show an increase, Thayetmyo district alone
having a deficit of 89 operations ; the balance in the direction of excess being
3,414. In Meiktila Division there was a falling off of 2,996 primary operations,
Yamèthin showing a decrease of 3,441 and Kyauksè district of 709. The
highest increase was that of 748 in Myingyan district.
There was an increase of 2,331 primary operations in the Northern Shan
States, while the Southern Shan States shows a deficit of 156 operations.
Reviewing the figures given in detail above in the light of further information
available, it is seen that much credit attaches to the work of the district vaccina-
tion staffs in Akyab, Tharrawaddy and Pyapôn districts for the improved outturn
of primary operations, while most of the increase in Mandalay district is to the
credit of the vaccination establishment employed in Mandalay city. In Pyapôn
district the increase is 70 per cent. on the previous year's record, and goes a long
way to wipe out the old record of inefficiency and sloth which attached to the
vaccination staff of that district up to 1915. The progress made is illustrated
by a comparison of the mean annual outturn of primary operations in the five-
year's 1910-11 to 1914-15. viz., 3,573, with that for the following five-years
1915-16 to 1919-20— 8,846, and again with the figures for the year under review
17,727 ; another satisfactory feature of the year's work is the general increase of
primary operations in Upper Burma districts, only 5 out of 20, or one-quarter,
showing a deficit against 8 districts out of 20 in Lower Burma (Hill District of
Arakan is excluded as returning precisely similar figures for the two years
contrasted). The increase of 17,959 primary operations in the Upper Burma
districts compares favourably with the deficit of 8,291 in Lower Burma districts,
but the analysis shows that the bulk of this deficit has to be credited to two
districts of the Tenasserim Division and one of the Irrawaddy Division.
4. Re-vaccination.—The large increase in the numbers of this class of
operation performed in Akyab, Kyaukpyu and Lower Chindwin districts, and the
great decrease in Yamèthin district have already been adverted to in paragraph 2.
Ten districts in all in Lower and ten in Upper Burma return an increased output
in re-vaccination, and eleven in Lower Burma and ten in Upper Burma return a
deficit. The stimulus resulting from the prevalence of small-pox was lacking in
most districts, and no doubt this is responsible for a falling off in re-vaccination
where this was registered, but, per contra, there was little or none in those districts
which showed a great increased output of re-vaccination,—and there was a notable
degree of prevalence of small-pox in some districts, e.g. Amherst, Thatôn and
Sagaing, which failed to reach the previous year's record. In Kyauksè district a
laudable attempt to carry out a re-vaccination campaign without increase of staff
resulted indeed in achieving some 4,739 additional re-vaccinations, but was
probably responsible for the falling off of 709 in primary vaccination. It is not
surprising that the cessation of the vigorous vaccination campaign in Yamèthin
district was marked not only by an enormous decrease in re-vaccinations (from
57,012 in 1920-21 to 2,683 in 1921-22), but also by a decrease of 3,441 primary
operations.
5. Results of Vaccination.—The percentage of successful cases of which
the results were known was in primary vaccination 98.07, in re-vaccination 58.46,
as against 97.48 and 55.70 respectively in 1920-21. In the case of primary
operations the highest percentage success accrues to Sagaing, Pyapôn and