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NOTES ON VACCINATION IN ASSAM FOR, THE YEAR
1918-19.
1. Introductory.—The charge of the department was held by me throughout the
year and the usual routine of work was followed.
2. Vaccination agencies.—In plains districts the vaccination work was carried
out by the staff of vaccinators who are paid by local bodies, with the exception of
those employed in the district of Goalpara who are licensed vaccinators and un-
paid, and those employed in the hill districts, who are paid by Government. The
total number of vaccinators employed during the year was 325, as compared with
305 in the year 1917-18.
The present staff of vaccinators is inadequate to meet the needs of the popula-
tion. After careful study, an estimate was embodied in a note submitted to Govern-
ment in July 1918 which calculated the number of vaccinators required to permit
of every village being visited once annually. The increase therein suggested has
been accepted by the majority of Local Boards, provision having been made in the
budgets for 1919-20 for the needed expansion, but the Local Boards of Silchar, South
Sylhet, Karimganj, Habiganj, Tezpur, Mangaldai and Dibrugarh have declined
to make the provision suggested, for reasons which have not been communicated.
In view of the comparatively small amount of expenditure involved, it is some-
what disappointing to find that carefully considered advice on this important
subject has carried so little weight; particularly in Silchar where so much leeway
has to be made up, is this failure unfortunate, vide my remarks in this connection
in last year's report.
3. Total number of operations.—The total number of operations performed in
Assam during the year 1918-19 was 289,184 as compared with 354,323 in 1917-18
showing a decrease of 54,276 under primary vaccinations and 10,863 re-vaccinations.
This large decrease is due to the epidemic of influenza 'during the working season.
The total number of operations performed by different agencies was as follows :—
266,284 operations by departmental vaccinators.
3,878 operations by the dispensary staff,
16,280 operations by tea garden agencies,
and
2,742 operations by the jail, lunatic asylum, police hospital and cholera hospital agencies.
The variations in the district returns are noticed in paragraph 8 of the report.
4. Deaths from small-pox.—The ratio of mortality from small-pox in Assam
during the year 1918 was .34 per mille of population, as compared with .59 in 1917.
The highest ratio, namely that of 1.65 was reported from the district of Kamrup.
The Civil Surgeon of this district endeavours to account for some of this by pointing
out that deaths due to " Measles " and " Chicken-pox " are also included under this
head by the reporting agencies, and it is possible that the actual small-pox mortality
is somewhat lower than that recorded. The next highest ratios, i.e., .81 and .49
were reported from the districts of Sibsagar and Cachar, respectively, both being
lower rates than those recorded in the two preceding years.
5. Dispensary vaccination.—The total number of persons vaccinated in dis-
pensaries during the year 1918-19 was 3,878, as compared with 3,270 in 1917-18.
6. Percentage of successful operations.—The percentage of success in primary
vaccinations was 95.16 and that for re-vaccinations was 68.53, as compared with
93.90 and 67.05, respectively, in 1917-18.
7. Different methods of vaccination.—As usual, all vaccinations were performed
with glycerinated lymph, manufactured in the Vaccine Depôt at Shillong.
8. Vaccination work in different districts.—Two districts show an increase in the
number of operations performed during the year under report as compared with
the preceding year, viz., Sylhet (+9,816) and the Naga Hills (+4,207). An apprecia-
ble decrease is recorded in the districts of Kamrup (—19,344), Cachar (—13,054)
Sibsagar (—11,759), Darrang (—10,008), Lakhimpur (—6,767) and Goalpara
(—6,397), the reason for this being the influenza epidemic, to deal with which the
services of the entire vaccination staff were, in nearly all districts, utilised, to the
detriment of the vaccination work.