NOTES ON VACCINATION IN ASSAM FOR THE YEAR
1911-1912.
1. Introductory.—Lieutenant-Colonel
E. C. Hare, I.M.S., held charge of the
Department, and the office of Deputy Sanitary Commissioner was held by Captain
C. McCombie Young, I. M.S., throughout the year.
2. Vaccination Agencies.—The vaccinations were mainly performed by 331
epartmental vaccinators. In tea gardens vaccinations were performed by the
garden doctors.
The average number of persons vaccinated by each vaccinator was 877.
3. Total number of operations.—Three lakhs five thousand eight hundred and forty¬
five vaccination operations were performed by all agencies during the year, of which
290,915 were primary and 14,930 revaccinations, against 257,693 operations of the
previous year with 249,955 primary and 7,738 revaccinations. Thus there was an
increase of 48,152 operations with 40,960 primary and 7,192 revaccinations.
The total for the year consists of :—
290,468 by the departmental vaccinators,
1,678 by the dispensary staff,
13,525 by the tea-garden agencies, and
179 by the jail agencies.
4. Deaths from small-pox.—The total number of deaths from small-pox during
the year was 2,493 yielding a ratio of .35 per mille against .28 of the previous year.
The highest death-rate was recorded in Kamrup (1.21). In Lakhimpur there was no
death from small-pox during the year.
The diagram showing death-rates from small-pox, and the protection afforded
by successful vaccination, is attached.
5. Dispensary Vaccination.—One thousand six hundred and seventy eight-vaccin-
ation operations wore performed during the year under report of which 1,464 were
primary and 214 revaccinations against 2,931 with 2,549 primary and 382 revaccinations
of the previous year.
The dispensary vaccinations are principally confined to the Hill Districts and the
Manipur State.
6. Percentage of successful operations.—Excluding unknown cases, the percentages
of success in primary and revaccinations were 98.19 and 80.28, respectively, in the
case of those performed by the vaccinators, 97.54 and 94.87, respectively, by the
dispensary staff and 97.28 and 88.33, respectively, by other agencies.
7. Different methods of vaccination.—The vaccinations were exclusively perform-
ed with glycerinated lymph manufactured by the Shillong Vaccine Depôt.
8. Vaccination work in different districts.—Compared with the previous year there
was an increase of operations in five districts, viz., Sylhet (28,356), Kamrup
(13,977), Khasi and Jaintia Hills (2,288), Goalpara (3,041) and Garo Hills (1,518).
The increase in Sylhet was due to the employment of several vaccinators during
the rains in the " off season " when small-pox was prevalent and also to the employ-
ment of 11 extra licensed vaccinators. With the approval of the Deputy Commissioner
licenses were issued to 11 men, after due examination, to work in selected areas, as
an experiment. They did 8,299 vaccinations, an average of 752 per man. The
results of the experiment have been encouraging and it will be continued next year.
In Kamrup the increase was due to the increased activity of the vaccination
staff in the presence of small-pox. It is satisfactory to note that 5,350 " Maha¬
purushias," who are opposed to vaccination, have been vaccinated during the year,
whereas none were vaccinated during the previous year.
The Civil Surgeon, Nowgong, reports that he has received considerable help
from the Deputy Commissioner in overcoming the opposition of the people. This
has resulted in a further increase of 224 operations during the year.
In the Khasi and Jaintia Hills five additional vaccinators and one Sub-Inspector
of Vaccination were sanctioned during the last season, but the increase of work was not
in proportion to the increase in the staff, which should have shown greater activity.
No marked decrease of operations has been reported from any of the districts.