2
Prevalence of plague in many parts of the province impeded the work during
the past two years, and in 1907-08, by Government of India, Home Department,
Resolution No. 190—202, dated the 27th November 1906, the control of the Vac-
cination Establishment was transferred to Local Bodies. This necessitated changes
in the distribution of the staff of the Vaccination Department. The different
grades of vaccinators were proportionately distributed to each district, and accord-
ingly vaccinators in Berar, many of them of the 1st grade, were transferred to the
different districts in the Central Provinces, their places being taken by Central
Provinces vaccinators of the 2nd and 3rd grades. This affected the progress
of work to some extent. Nevertheless, the vaccine operations performed during
the period under report (172,633 more than in the preceding triennium) were fair¬
lv satisfactory
Primary and revaccinations
done in the Province including
the Feudatory States.
5. The total number of primary vaccinations performed both in the Khalsa
and Feudatory States was 1,601,716(551,140 in 1905-06,
525,977 in 1906-07 and 524,599 in 1907-08) or 125,562
(72,480 in Khalsa and 53,082 in the Feudatory States)
more than in the previous triennium, the figures for which were 1,476,154 (or
466,896 in 1902-03, 476,971 in 1903-04 and 532,287 in 1904-05), and the re-vac-
cnations numbered 241,050 (74,998 in 1905-06, 91,404 in 1906-07 and 74,648 in
1907-08) or 47,071 (38,560 in the Khalsa and 8,511 in the Feudatory States) in
excess of the figures for the previous three years when the numbers were 69,154,
68,603 and 56,222, respectively. Re-vaccination has been steadily increasing of
late, perhaps due to the prevalence of small-pox, but in 1907-08 it fell to 74,648
or 16,756 less than in the preceding year, owing to the prevalence of scarcity in
almost every district of the province. In time of scarcity when every available
member of a family is put to some work or other, there is naturally more difficulty
in finding people who are willing to be re-vaccinated. The decrease in primary
operations during the past two years is as already explained due to the prevalence
of plague and to dislocation of work due to changes in the distribution of the
Vaccination staff.
Percentage of success
6 The percentage of success in primary vaccinations in 1907-08 was 98.41
against 97.21 and 98.56, respectively, in the two preced-
ing years, and that of re-vaccinations 76.36 against
64.91 in 1905-06 and 75.38 in 1906-07. The results of primary vaccinations are
satisfactory, but those of re-vaccinations doubtful, and I am inclined to agree
with Captain Oxley who writes that the apparently high percentage of success is
due to the submission of false returns by vaccinators.
Persons successfully vac-
cinated per 1,000 of popula¬
tion.
7. The number of persons successfully vaccinated per 1,000 of population,
which was 44.26 in 1904-05, rose to 44.83 in the suc-
ceeding year, but fell to 42.06 and 42.66, respectively, in
the last two years due to causes already explained. The
protection afforded was highest in Seoni, where 72.46 were successfully vaccinated
in 1907-08. Next come Narsinghpur with 58.46, Nimar with 47.62, Betul with 46.38,
Chhindwara with 45.90, Saugor with 45.88 and Nagpur with 45.20. In the
remaining districts less than 45 per mille of population were protected. The
protection afforded in Berar seems very low as compared with that in the Central
Provinces, but this may partly be due to the different views held by the vaccinators
as to what constituted a successful re-vaccination with a consequent variation in
the recorded percentage of success among this class of operation, and partly to
the widespread epidemic of plague which prevailed in those districts (except
Yeotmal) for several months of the year.
Children under one year of
age available for vaccination,
and the number of these suc-
cessfully vaccinated
8. The number of infants available for vaccination, calculated by deducting
deaths under one year from births, was 435,779 in 1905-
06,455,824 in 1906-07 and 460,702 in 1907-08. Of
these, 87.41 per cent were successfully vaccinated in
1905-06, 79.69 in 1906-07 and 79.49 in 1907-08. The
decrease is due to reasons explained in paragraph 4. In Nimar, nearly all the
available children were successfully vaccinated (99.59 per cent) during the past
year, and in Bhandara 90.48 per cent, Seoni 8998, Chhindwara 89.72, Nagpur
88.95, Betul 87.74, Hoshangabad 86.24, Bilaspur 86.02, Narsinghpur 84.67,
Amraoti 83.73 and Balaghat 83.31. In the remaining districts a considerable
proportion remained unvaccinated.
Average number of opera-
tions (primary and re-vacci-
nations, done by vaccinators
9. The average number of operations performed by each vaccinator of
the District Establishment fell from 2,120 in 1905-06 to
2,069 in the succeeding year and to 2,022 in the past
year. Though the number shows a steady decrease, due
to causes explained in paragraph 4, yet the total average
(6,211) for the triennium was practically the same as that