( 3 )
Sanitary Commissioner believes that this practice is universal. Local officers
have been instructed that stricter supervision must be exercised by the inspect-
ing staff over the work of the licensed vaccinators, who do not understand
the utility of entering all cases, whether successful or unsuccessful, and the
Lieutenant-Governor hopes that the Civil Surgeons will devote greater attention
to the matter. The introduction of the system in force- in the Panjab, of
making three punctures in each arm, which was referred to in last year's
Resolution, has been postponed, pending the re-organization of the Sanitary
Department.
6. Secondary Operations.—The number of secondary operations rose from
49,149 to 70,527, an increase of 21,378. Of these, 14,606 occurred in Rural
areas, 7,600 in Mufassal Municipalities and Dispensaries, and 801 in the Animal
Vaccination Depot at Calcutta. The percentage of successful cases was 60.23,
against 50.04 in 1895-96, but this includes those cases in which the operation is
repeated till it proves successful.
7. Recess work.—The number of operations performed during the recess in
connection with small-pox epidemics and the up-keep of lymph for emergencies,
fell from 147,236 to 115,833, or by 31,403. The decrease occurred every-
where, and seems to show that the unusual activity evinced in the previous
year was not maintained.
8. Vaccination at the expense of the District Board.—The number of vac-
cinators employed by the District Boards and paid from District Funds decreased
from 67 to 60, and the number of persons vaccinated by them, from 59,060 to
58,722. The contributions made by District Boards towards vaccination in
rural areas, rose from 3,279 to 3,368. As in the preceding year, the largest
contribution (Rs. 1,181) was made by the District Board of Puri. Of
the other District Boards, Chittagong contributed Rs. 864, Cuttack Rs 581,
Gaya Rs. 447, Dacca Rs. 194, and Khulna Rs. 100. A comparison of the work
done by the licensed, Government, District Board and Municipal agencies,
shows that there was an increase in the number of operations performed
by the licensed and Municipal vaccinators, against a diminution in the work
done by the Government and District Board agencies.
9. Cost of vaccination.—The total cost of vaccination during the year was
Rs. 2,06,204, against Rs. 2,09,480 in 1895-96, the average cost of each reported
successful vaccination being one anna and five pies, against one anna and six
pies in the previous year.
10. Death-rate from small-pox.—The diagram attached to the report illus-
trates the death-rate from small-pox in each district, as compared with the pro-
portion of population protected by vaccination. The total number of deaths
from small-pox during the year was 16,179, giving a ratio of .22 per thousand
of the population, against 13,080 and a ratio of .17 in 1895-96. The following
districts, which had the highest mortality from small-pox, show a very low ratio
of population protected:—
District.
Shahabad
...
...
...
Puri ... ... ...
Patna
...
...
...
Cuttack ... ... ...
Gaya ... ... ...
Monghyr ... ... ...
Protected per
10,000
1,100
1,600
1,200
1,000
1,100
1,700
Death rate from
small-pox per
10,000.
15
12
11
8
6
4
Darjeeling, with 5,800 persons protected per 10,000 of population had eight
deaths, and the same number is returned for Malda: the lowest number of
deaths from small-pox is, however, reported from Rajshahi, where only two
persons are said to have died of the disease.
11. Method of vaccination.—It has been usual, in previous reports, to
furnish a statement comparing the efficacy of the three methods of vaccination
practised in Bengal, viz., (1) with vaccine lymph obtained direct from the
calf, (2) with vaccine lymph prepared with lanoline, and (3) with human lymph
taken by arm-to-arm transfer. As the Sanitary Commissioner did not consider
these figures reliable, he has, in his present report, only prepared a statement
showing the number of operations performed direct from the calf, as compared