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Disinfection will therefore henceforth he the principal measure, and it will he
open to the people to go to Camp if they wish to avoid the inconvenience and
dampness attendant on disinfection.
Now that all fears regarding removal of patients, segregation, etc., have no
longer any grounds for existence, it is expected that Medical Practitioners and
the people generally will have no scruples in reporting plague or any other cases
of dangerous illness by calling on the Plague Staff and Volunteers to visit
them, in order that the verification of deaths may in future he as accurate as
possible. In doing so they will secure their own convenience, as in every case
of a death the cause of which cannot be accurately ascertained disinfection will
take place. It is obviously advisable therefore that people should in their own
interest report serious sickness, and have it diagnosed and verified by the Staff on
plague duty. It will continue to be the duty of the Plague Staff and Volunteers
to visit houses that have been infected with a view to keeping the inmates under
observation, also to induce patients to go to hospital and the contacts to get them-
selves inoculated. They should see to the frequent disinfection of the rooms and
clothing of the people amongst whom cases of plague are found and generally to
do their best to save life by advising and if necessary also prescribing for the
patient.
Disinfection will be most thoroughly carried out as it is a measure of the
first importance in all future operations. For this reason and also as its utility
has been universally acknowledged the disinfection of rooms, single houses, or
adjoining houses as well, will be left entirely to the discretion of the District
Officer.
25th October 1900.
H. E. PRITCHARD, CAPT.,
Personal Assistant.
The Dis-
covery of
Plague
Cases.
The sources of information at the disposal of the plague administra-
tion have been the same this year as last, but whereas last year we were
largely dependent for our information on Volunteers, our experience this
year has been that with the assistance of our paid agencies, chiefly the
Sectional Medical Officers and the corps of registration ramosis, and with
the information which private practitioners are bound to give us, we have
little, if any, need for reports from our volunteers. This is mainly due
to the milder measures inaugurated by the Government of India which
have largely removed the main incentives to concealment. The volun-
teers, however, have proved very useful chiefly in reporting sickness other
than plague. They were made aware and the people through them that
the reporting of any kind of sickness was useful to all concerned and
particularly to the people because in the event of death the Sectional
Medical Officer would have already visited the house and there was no
risk of disinfection being carried out unless the illness was of an infectious
nature. The people generally speedily saw the advantages of this
system and where they thought they would not be liable to disinfection
made no difficulty about reporting sickness. It is hoped that the practice
having thus been started will now continue. It is one which should
prove of great value to the Health Department of the City.
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