( 3 )
refused vaccination. The improvement noticed in Jessore is said to be due to
increasing appreciation by the public of the benefits of vaccination and to
somewhat better public health of the past season, while the Civil Surgeon of
Manbhum puts it down to—
(a) increase in the number of vaccinators and apprentices;
(b) prevalence of small-pox ; and
(c) the system of the grant of rewards to vaccinators, which acting as a
stimulus to work, swelled the number of operations.
In Darbhanga, the people having been in a better condition as compared
with the previous year, were more ready to accept vaccination and to pay the
vaccinators' fees, hence the increase, while the prevalence of small-pox in
Hazaribagh, Birbhum, and Khulna accounts, for the larger number of operations
in them. No explanation has been furnished by the Civil Surgeon of Ranchi
and the Political Agent of the Feudatory States, Orissa, of the increase of
vaccination in these places.
The large decrease in the number of operations in Darjeeling is due to
the fact that in the previous year there having been a severe epidemic of
small-pox in the district, an unusually large number of operations had been
performed, while in Murshidabad, the whole district having been taken up for
vaccination for the first time during the year 1906-07, when the children
remaining unprotected from previous years were all vaccinated, the balance
remaining unprotected was small, and hence the decrease in the number of
operations during the past year. In Bankura, the decrease is reported to be
due chiefly to scarcity of food-grains, which compelled many poorer people to
leave their homes with their families in search of employment elsewhere,
while the following among other causes account for the decrease in Saran:—
(a) scarcity; and
(b) misapprehension as to the use of lanoline vaccine paste which the
people feared to be anti-plague serum;
In Balasore, the falling off is attributed to scarcity of food-grains and
the consequent difficulty in realising fees, owing to which several vaccinators
deserted their posts and none could be found to succeed them. The Civil
Surgeon of Purnea ascribes the decrease to (a) scarcity of food-grains,
(b) migration of the people of some villages owing to floods, (c) illness
among the vaccinators, and (d) the severe prevalence of cholera and fever, while
the Civil Surgeon of the Sonthal Parganas reports it to be due to the emigra-
tion of the poorer classes of the people owing to bad crops.
Protection afforded to infants.
5. During the past year 1907-08, out of 1,648,316, the estimated
number of infants under one year available for
vaccination, 866,068, that is, 525.42 per thousand,
were successfully vaccinated, against 384.36 of 1904-05, which was the last
year of the previous triennial period. It is satisfactory to notice the steady
progress in infant vaccination which is being made from year to year. This
seems to be due to close and constant supervision exercised by this office, the
greater interest now shown by Civil Surgeons and the vaccination inspecting
staff in the matter, and the introduction of the system of the grant of rewards
to vaccinators, which is not as a rule given unless a fair percentage of successful
infant vaccination is done.
In 19 districts (against 17 of the previous year and 9 of 1904-05), viz.,
Ranchi, Sambalpur, Palamau, Murshidabad, Cuttack, Hazaribagh, Bhagalpur,
Nadia, Manbhum, Darjeeling, Monghyr, Midnapore, Gaya, Sonthal Parganas,
Birbhum, Darbhanga, Purnea, Khulna, and Hooghly, the protection was over
500 per mille, while no district returned a lower rate than 200 per mille which
was very common during previous triennial periods. In Ranchi and Sambal-
pur the rate recorded is above 1,000 per mille. This is accounted for by the
fact that a certain portion of the children born during the previous year was
vaccinated during the past year. The figures, however, seem to be of doubtful
accuracy. It is very likely that some children above one year have been
returned as under one.
The protection afforded to infants in municipalities is shown in Appendix
VII attached to the report. It will be seen that 833.95 per mille of the
surviving infant population was protected during the past year, against 872.88