NOTES ON THE STATISTICS OF VACCINATION IN BURMA FOR THE YEAR 1896-97.
9
(4) The appearence of a private vaccinator in the district who vaccinat-
ed over 1,400 persons in Ngapè township.
The decrease in Bhamo district was due to the illness of one vaccinator, who
could do no work for six months, and to the limited number of children available
for vaccination, as well as to the remoteness of some places where, in the words of
the Superintendent of Vaccination, " cases are few and far between and the cost
" of transport prohibitive."
The decrease of 1,006 cases in Katha has been explained by Mr. Martin, the
present Civil Surgeon, as being only apparent and not real as he believes the re-
turns for the previous year to be open to doubt.
The falling off in the number of operations in Northern Shan States is due
to the great objection of the Shans to vaccination. In the case of the Lower
Chindwin the falling off is confined solely to the town and has been attributed to
the paucity of available subjects.
27. Among the districts which show an increase, Pakôkku, Shwebo, Myin-
gyan, and Meiktila, with an excess of 7,286, 3,719, 1,273, and 818 operations, are
the chief. The increase in other districts varies from 286 in Ruby Mines, 235 in
Myitkyina, 207 in Southern Shan States to 122 in the Upper Chindwin district
and 74 in Sagaing.
28. The percentages of success in primary cases and in re-vaccinations
were 93.34 and 64.64 respectively as against 92.67 and 66.65 in 1895-96.
In Katha the percentage of success in primary operations (75) is very low ; in
fact it is much lower than in re-vaccinations (84). The Superintendent of Vaccin-
ation has not explained this anomaly. He merely remarks that the small percent-
age of success is due to bad lymph, but it is not understood why the same lymph
produced better results in the case of re-vaccinations.
29. In Magwe out of 137 re-vaccinations 136 proved successful, giving a
percentage of 99.27, a result which would be open to doubt but for the assurances
of the Civil Surgeon, who himself verified every case.
30. A considerable increase is discernible in the average number of cases
vaccinated by each vaccinator, which is 2,480 as against 2,143 in 1895-96.
The average was highest in Pakôkku, Shwebo, and Meiktila. In other dis-
tricts it varied from 3,696 in Upper Chindwin, 2,958 in Sagaing, 2,701 in the Lower
Chindwin, 2,621, in Myingyan to 739 in Northern Shan States and 686 in Myit-
kyina.
31. On the whole the work in the Upper Province has considerably im-
proved, though much remains still to be done, as in the majority of districts the
protection by vaccination falls far short of the probable mean annual birth-rate.
32. The extent to which the population of each district is protected is shown
in the diagram annexed. The death-rate from small-pox cannot be shown therein
as vital statistics are not registered in Upper Burma except in a few Municipal
towns.
33. Statement II.—The establishment employed and the cost thereof for
the past three years are contrasted below:—
Year.
1894-95 ...
1895-96 ...
1896-97 ...
European Supervis-
ing Officers.
...
...
...
Native Supervis-
ing Officers.
...
...
1
Vaccinators.
51
51
53
Clerks.
...
...
...
Peons.
3
3
4
Pay.
Rs.
13,046
13,173
13,189
Travelling allow-
ances.
Rs.
3,151
3,234
3,689
Contingencies.
Rs.
584
391
439
Total.
Rs.
16,781
16,798
17,317
3