Report on Vaccine Operations in the Punjab, for the year ending
31st March 1879.
FROM
JOHN BENNETT, ESQUIRE, M.D.,
Officiating Superintendent-General,
Vaccination,
Punjab.
To
L. H. GRIFFIN, ESQUIRE,
Officiating Secretary to Government,
Punjab,
SIR,
I have the honor to submit, for the information of the Hon'ble the Lieutenant-Governor, my
report on Vaccine Operations for the year 1878-79.
2. The aggregate number of operations performed by all establishments, during the year, was
481,922, a decrease of 13,519 as compared with that of the previous year, which decrease, as will
subsequently be shown, is owing to a falling off in the number of Dispensary vaccinations ; the number
of successful primary vaccinations was 435,649, and the percentage of success in the cases returned as
having been inspected was 97.11 ; the number of re-vaccinations was 16,503, the ratio of success being
60 per cent; but not much reliance can be placed on the percentages of success in re-vaccinations, as the
vaccinators have the greatest difficulty in distinguishing the points of success or non-success in many of
the cases. The aggregate cost amounted to Rs. 66,453-6-9, as against Rs. 69,762-3-9 in the previous
year, a decrease of Rs. 3,308-13-0, and each successful case cost annas 2 and pies 47, a slight diminution
from preceding year. In proportion to the births of the same year, taking the annual birth-rate at 40
per mille of population, or about 704,160 births, the successful vaccinations under one year of age,
numbering 206,930, were only 293 per cent., showing that at the end of the year under report nearly
three-fourths of the infantile population remained unprotected from small-pox.
3. The Provincial establishment consisted of:—
1
1
1
33
135
Superintendent-General
Superintendent
Native Deputy Superintendent
Native Superintendents
Vaccinators.
4. This shows an increase in the establishment of 4 Native Superintendents and 14 Vaccinators
over the number in previous year—an addition it was found necessary to make in order to provide for
the vaccination of eight new districts, which, during the last two years, have been included in the
vaccine circle. The establishment of Native Superintendents at the end of the season was complete,
while the number of vaccinators was 15 under the sanctioned scale.
5. During the hot weather vaccination was carried on in 10 Hill States, in the district of
Kángra which was almost wholly covered, in Simla, and in Murree with the adjoining hills; and in the
cold weather 8 districts, together with a Native State in the plains, were fully, and 16 partly overtaken
There were 4 new districts vaccinated for the first time, viz., Gurgaon, Mooltan, Jhang, and Montgomery
6. Briefly displayed, the year's record of the operations done by the Provincial establishment,
compared with 1877-78, was this :—
Statement No. I.
Year.
1877-78
1878-79
Number of Native
Superintendents.
29
33
Number of Vacci-
nators.
121
135
Total number of
persons vaccinated.
373,577
391,529
PRIMARY VACCINATION.
Total
number.
371,821
380,118
Total successful.
356,589
359,893
Percentage of suc-
cessful cases ex-
cluding
those
unknown from
the total.
98.81
98.08
Average number done
by each Vaccinator.
3,087.4
2,900.21
Cost of each successful
case
.
Rs.
0
0
As.
2
2
Ps.
8.18
6.74
In this state-
ment it will be seen
that, on the whole,
less satisfactory re-
sults were obtained
in the year under
review than in the
preceding year. The
increase in the total
number vaccinated,
17,952, is not in
proportion to the
addition made to
the strength of the