4
solve the difficulty completely. The immunity conferred by vaccination in
infancy is by no means lifelong, and if it is seriously desired that small-pox
should be eradicated, re-vaccination will also have to be compulsory, until such
time as the people themselves come to appreciate the benefits of it.
9. Inspection of work.—During
the year under report the Assistant
Directors of Public Health inspected 78,083 primary vaccinations as against
71,574 in the previous year.
The inspecting work done by the Assistant Directors of Public Health
has been comprehensive and they have submitted valuable reports on the
efficiency of the staff and work in all the 21 districts in the province.
The Civil Surgeons of the province inspected 30,934 primary and 7,071
re-vaccination operations against 25,046 primary and 5,684 re-vaccinations
last year.
It should be noted that the methods of inspection of Civil Surgeons
and Assistant Directors of Public Health are different.
Civil Surgeons
inspected the new work which has just been done and the numbers returned
by them are therefore smaller, whereas Assistant Directors of Public Health
inspect all the children under ten years of age, and look at old work as well as
new work, and also look for unvaccinated children and children who are
marked with small-pox, and they also examine vaccinators' registers and
other records in the villages where they can be verified and checked.
10. Supply of vaccine.—The Vaccine Depôt at Namkum supplied
the province with vaccine throughout the year.
A large supply of
vaccine is held in reserve and the necessary stores and supplies for
manufacture are in ample stock. 4,297,874 doses of vaccine were
manufactured during the year as compared with 4,596,543 doses last year.
The number of doses issued was 3,238,632 against 2,881,416 in 1925-26. The
number of doses in stock at the end of the year was 5,692,121. The number
of cattle used during the year was 707 as compared with 828 in the previous
year, and the average yield of crude vaccine was over 59 grammes per animal
as compared with 56 grammes in the previous year. The working cost of the
depôt for the year amounted to Rs. 25,686 as compared with Rs. 28,643 in the
previous year. The average cost of the vaccine per dose works out at 1.14 pies
on the gross expenditure, and as the sale-proceeds of vaccine lymph including
a large quantity supplied to Bengal, exceeded the working cost of the depôt
by Rs. 3,454-11-8, this sum constituted a nett profit for the year.
11. Vaccine depôt and cold storage.—During the year under report there
was no serious epidemic amongst calves except a mild outbreak of foot and
mouth disease in the latter part of December 1926 which was brought under
control at once by the prompt isolation of the infected calves and
disinfection.
The total mortality amongst calves was exceptionally low, being only 1.3
per cent. as compared with 4.3 per cent. in 1925-26, 6 per cent. in 1924-25
and 12 per cent, in 1923-24 and 22 per cent. in 1922-23.
Since the cold storage plant was duplicated in 1924-25 there has been
no trouble with regard to the storage of vaccine, and the cold storage and
machinery worked satisfactorily throughout the year.
Throughout the year cholera vaccine and influenza vaccine were stocked
in the depôt and issued throughout the province as required.
12. Experimental work.—All seed vaccine was manufactured at the
depôt and worked satisfactorily. 4,590 grammes of seed vaccine was prepared
and some of this was sold to the Calcutta Corporation to start their work.
The rejuvenation of the seed vaccine was maintained by passage through
children, buffalo calves and cow calves.