62
In Table No. 58 it will be noted that there is little difference between
Commands in the percentages of the various infections to the total in the
Command. Western (I) Distriot had again this year however higher percentage
of B. Sonne infections.
These figures represent careful work in 26 laboratories all situated in
different parts of India. They have now been very consistent over a period
of years and although no figures are available from civil sources it is considered
that they represent fairly accurately the various types of dysentery and their
respective proportions among the civil population also.
Routine examination of menials prior to employ ment.—A total of 13,282
menials were examined during the year prior to employment. This represents
a total of over 39,000 actual examinations. Organisms of the dysentery gr
oup
were isolated on 51 occasions and of the Enteric Group on 3 occasions. Micro-
scopical examination for the presence of Entamoeba histolytica cysts are
not carried out as a routine measure but in many laboratories are voluntarily
undertaken for instructional purposes. Twenty-nine thousand examinations
of this nature were carried out and cysts demonstrated on 109 ocasions only.
All the above stools were also examined for helminth infection. The
following table illustrates the findings in each Command.
TABLE NO. 59
Command.
Tæniidæ.
H.
Nana.
Ascaris
lumbri
¬coides.
Ankylos
¬ t o m a t y p e .
T r i c h u r i s t r i c h i u r a .
Enterobi
¬ u s v e r m i
¬cularis.
Strongy
¬loides
stercora
¬iis.
Southern
1
15
34
144
21
2
2
Eastern
23
35
92
401
40
19
14
Northern
22
28
60
677
15
4
...
Western Dist. (I)
.
1
. .
8
. .
2
. . .
Total
46
79
186
1,230
76
27
16
Diphtheria.—Throat swabs from 4,097 suspected cases of diphtheria were
examined during the year of which 182 were positive to C. diphtheria. In all
5,429 bacteriological examinations were made 362 being found positive. The
total number of contacts examined was 3,157 of which 63 were found to be
carriers.
The positive cases occurred in Commands as follows. Southern Command
(81), Northern Command (62), Eastern Command (23), Western Ind.. District
(16).
Nasal swabs from 213 suspicious cases were bacteriologically examined
with positive findings on 9 occasions.
As the result of instructions issued last year all virulence tests were
carried oat by injection and post mortem examination of guinea pigs in addi-
tion to the intradermal test.
An outbreak of diphtheria occurred in a military school in Northern
Command, which was traced to a carrier who a year previously had been
carrying virulent organisms but who had been declared free as the result of a
large number of negative swabs. The outbreak occurred in the summer months
so it was deemed inadvisable to attempt to import Schick toxin for intradermal
testing. Cases continue to occur in spite of extensive swabbing followed by
isolation of all positive individuals so it was eventually decided to immunise
the whole school population with T. A. F.
The results of this procedure, in the absence of Schick toxin, naturally
could not be accurately assessed ; but no further cases of clinical diphtheria
(that is, cases with a diphtheritic membrane) occurred after the attempted