2
9. Composition and Strength of the Inspecting staff.—The inspecting staff con-
sisted of 8 Inspectors and 18 Sub-Inspectors in the provincial cadre and 1 Inspect
or in the Manipur State. During the year under report one additional Sub-Inspect¬
or was sanctioned for the Khasi and Jaintia Hills.
10. Verification by the Inspecting staff.—The Civil Surgeon inspected 7.08 and
4.1 per cent. of the primary and revaccinations, respectively, during the year against
5.9 and 3.63 per cent. of the previous year. The subordinate inspecting
staff inspected 58.10 and 36.59 per cent of the primary and revaccinations, respect-
ively, during the year against 64.11 and 40.59 of the previous year. The Deputy
Sanitary Commissioner inspected 618 operations of which 599 or 96.92 per cent. were
successful.
11. Working of the Compulsory Vaccination Act.—One thousand nine hundred
and thirty-eight infants under one year were available for vaccination and 1,530 or 79
per cent. were successfully vaccinated against 57 per cent. of the previous year.
In Nowgong, Dhubri, Goalpara, Sibsagar, Jorhat and Golaghat towns, almost
all the available children were vaccinated.
In Gauhati 65 notices were served on defaulters, 6 prosecutions were instituted
under the Vaccination Act, of which 4 resulted in the offenders being fined.
The Civil Surgeon, Goalpara, reports that the satisfactory result in both the towns
in his district were due to the service of notices. In Dhubri 13 cases were instituted,
of which 11 were acquitted after giving satisfactory explanation to the Magistrate and
submitting to vaccination.
In Silchar 90 notices were issued. Eighteen persons were prosecuted, of whom 14
were convicted and fined.
During the year Imperial Vaccination Act, XIII of 1880, was replaced by the
Bengal Vaccination Act, V of 1880, in the Sylhet, Gauhati, Dhubri, Goalpara, Nowgong
and Dibrugarh Municipalities.
12. Vaccine Depôt.—The total cost of the depôt was Rs. 23,468-1-11 against
Rs. 24,221-9-6 of the previous year.
The total number of tubes loaded was
1,716,938 against 1,781,075 in 1910-1911, showing a decrease of 64,137. The
average cost per tube was 2 05 pies. Of the 917 calves inoculated, lymph was taken
from 810 only.
One sweeper on Rs. 10 was sanctioned for the depôt last year.
The lymph was of excellent quality throughout the year and no complaints were
received. An interesting experiment in the manufacture and distribution of vaccine
lymph was carried out under the supervision of the Deputy Sanitary Commissioner.
Frequent complaints of wide-spread failures in the potency of the lymph supplied
during the months of October and November had been received in previous years, and
it was resolved to take measures to ascertain its cause and to remedy it. On theor-
etical grounds, it appeared probable that these failures were due to one or both of two
causes, first, a decrease in the potency of the lymph strain and, second, to exposure to
beat during the interval between issue and use. With the object of remedying the
first of these possible causes of failure, we endeavoured to exalt the potency of
the lymph and to this end, a passage of the Shillong strain was made through a rabbit
and again inoculated upon calves. Very careful selection of vesicles was carried out,
and a strain of good potency was obtained from which all the lymph issued during the
year was manufactured. The actual potency of all lymphs issued for vaccination
work during October and November was tested by vaccination of Khasi children in
Shillong and neighbourhood who were brought for inspection, and any unsatisfactory
lymphs were rejected. Definite knowledge of the potency of all lymphs issued during
these months was thus obtained.
To ascertain the extent to which exposure to heat in the interval between issue
and vaccination affects the potency, an experiment was devised.
All vaccine lymph for use in the districts of Dacca and Mymensingh was packed
in flasks made on the " Thermos" principle, and sent direct to the Provincial Labora-
tory, Dacca, where it was stored in ice, and sent out to the vaccinators by post in
weekly supplies. Other portions of the same batches of lymph which were supplied
to the districts of Dacca and Mymensingh were sent to other districts where no special
precautions were enjoined, and these were distributed in the usual way.
Detailed reports were asked as to the case success and results obtained from each
batch of lymph both in the experimental districts, and in the rest of the province.