12
REPORT ON VACCINATION IN ASSAM.
all wrong. Vaccination ought to be compulsory on every garden, and, unless managers
see that medical officers do their duty in this respect, a day will come when the
neglect of precautions will be regretted.
Lymph supply.
41. The English lymph received from the Sanitary Commissioner of Assam at
the commencement of the season was very good, and
materially contributed to establish reliable vaccination.
Mr. McNaught suggests that it would be a material benefit if a second supply were
available about Christmas; but the English supply is very expensive. Besides this, the
Sanitary Commissioner of Bengal was good enough to furnish periodical supplies. Bovine
lymph was a failure.
Decrease of small-pox.
42. The statistics of mortality from small-pox in Nowgong are very favourable.
In 1881 there were 549 deaths among a population of
310,579; in 1882, 176; 1883, 81; 1884, 51; 1885; 15; 1886,
11. But how little the people are adequately protected is shown by Mr. McNaught's
examination of patients at the dispensary; among 1,396, it was found 501 had been
inoculated, 798 had passed through small-pox, 65 only had been vaccinated, and 32 were
unprotected. As during the last ten years, 32,195 persons have been vaccinated in
Nowgong, it is not to be expected that much impression can have been made on the general
population; but after ten years more of active increase, such statistics ought to be greatly
modified.
Inoculation.
43. As indicated by the dispensary examination, inoculation was formerly very
openly and commonly practised. It is still carried on away
from stations. Mr. McNaught found a Bengali had in-
oculated 13 persons in a village before he was reported. Of these, 5 passed through
small-pox successfully, 7 failed, 1 girl died; but no epidemic followed.
Expenditure.
44. Of Rs. 1,244, which formed the sanctioned grant of the year in Nowgong,
Rs. 941-10-1 only appears to have been expended. The
cost of each successful operation, therefore, was reduced to
a minimum of one anna six pies only, and I am strongly of opinion it would be judicious
on the part of the Local Board to grant a gratuity of one month's pay to the subordinates,
in consideration of the excellent results shown in Nowgong since 1884-85.
Special remarks.
45. Mr. Knox-Wight's covering letter to the annual report merits special notice.
He has endeavoured, to the utmost of his power, and with
considerable success, to avert opposition on the part both
of Muhammadans and Hindus. By friendly discussion and arguments he has obtained
many concessions.
DARRANG.
Superintendence and staff.
46. Dr. R. N. Campbell, Civil Surgeon of Tezpur, superintended all the vaccination
of this district throughout the season. He had under him a
working staff, increased from 13 to 17, and which comprised,
besides himself, one Inspector, four Government and eight Local Fund vaccinators, two
Hospital-Assistants, one compounder and one licensed vaccinator.
Results
47. Their combined efforts succeeded in producing an aggregate of 11,417 opera-
tions, of which 10,105, or 88.50 per cent., were successful.
Each class worked zealously to achieve this satisfactory
highest record. The Inspector alone does not take part in actual vaccination; he was too
much engaged in moving from place to place.
General observations.
48. Dr. Campbell's annual report is very concise, and may be reviewed in a single
paragraph. The English lymph received through the
Sanitary Commissioner, of Assam proved very efficient. Vacci-
nation was started early, and the men usually worked in pairs for each sub-division and
thána. There was no material opposition; inoculation is no longer practised; there was
little or no small-pox anywhere; there is no compulsory area; vaccination on tea-gardens
is left almost entirely to Government operators, the number of cases having totalled 989,
of which 875, or 88.47 per cent., were successful.
Inspections.
49. Dr. Campbell has taken particular pains to make his inspection thorough. In
addition to 629 verified by himself, the Inspector tested 5,208,
including all those performed by the licensee The great
advantage of having these inspections is instanced here, for the proportionate successes
among the tested cases was found to be 80.18 only, which included a phenomenal 99.38
per cent. of the licensed vaccinator. It is, however, explained that the latter attained
his entire success by not counting his failures, but repeating the operation.