Report of the Principal Civil Medical Officer and Inspector-General of Hospitals / [Ceylon].

  • Ceylon. Civil Medical Department.
Date:
[1905]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Principal Civil Medical Officer and Inspector-General of Hospitals / [Ceylon]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    1/72 (page 1)
    B 1 MEDICAL. REPORT OF THE PRINCIPAL CIVIL MEDICAL OFFICER AND INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF HOSPITALS FOR 1905. I have the honour to submit for the information of Government the Administration Report of the Medical Department for the year 1905 with the usual statistical tables. Section I.—Population ; Birth- and Death-rates. 2. The estimated population of the Island on the 31st December, 1905, was 3,950,123, exclusive of the military and shipping population. 150,785 births were registered and 108,160 deaths. The birth¬ rate was 386 per mille as against 38'5, and the death-rate 27 * 7 per mille as against 24c 9, for the previous year, calculated on the estimated population at the middle of the year. The increase in the estimated population for the year is due < o an excess of births over deaths and to the excess of cooly arrivals from India over departures ; this latter excess affects the increase in population to a greater extent than the former. 3. The birth-rate was highest in the 1st quarter, next in the 4th quarter, and lowest in the 3rd quarter of the year. 4. The average death-rate for the year to 1,000 persons living was 28 • 75. 5. Infant mortality.—The average mortality for the year of infants under one year was at the rate of 176 to 1,000 registered births. Mannar District heads the list in the 1st and 2nd quarters of the year and improves considerably in the 3rd and 4th quarters. Section II.—Public Health. 6. The public health during 1905 was fair. The healthiest Provinces were the Western and the Northern. The healthiest districts were Negombo, Kalutara, Nuwara Eliya, and Chilaw. 7. Causes of deaths.—Under the headings “ Diarrhoea and Dysentery ” there were registered 22,867 deaths, “ Fevers ” 22,171 deaths, “ Smallpox ” 112 deaths, “ Cholera ” one death. The first two headings in the above list are very comprehensive terms, and are likely to include under Diarrhoea and Dysentery ” all gastro-intestinal diseases with possibly some cases of enteric fever. Fevers ” include malaria, enteric, and many cases in which the chief symptom was a rise of temperature from any cause. The deaths from smallpox were unusually numerous. The one death from cholera was registered as such, but after registration the case was proved not to be Asiatic cholera, but acute diarrhoea due to some dietetic error. Of the most important infectious diseases treated at the various hospitals, &c., the following list gives a comparative statement for this year and for 1904 :— Cholera. Smallpox. Malaria. Enteric Fever. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. Cases. Deaths. 1904 •• 7 4 10 .. 2 5,288 .. 75 .. 341 .. 70 1905 .. — .. — .. 440 .. 122 .. 7,872 .. 126 .. 370 .. 96 8. Cholera.—In 1904 it will be seen that there were seven cases, but it must be remembered that all of these came from a vessel which brought them to the port of Colombo, and they were treated on shore. No case of this disease originated in Ceylon. In 1905 a similarly happy condition existed ; there were no cases in the Island, but a vessel arrived in August from Bangkok, on which there had been eight persons attacked and three deaths. The ship was isolated and placed in strict quarantine and the sick treated on board; no further cases developed after her arrival here. Later on in the same month another ship arrived from Calcutta with a case of cholera, which was treated on board and recovered. The freedom of this country from visitations of cholera has now happened on three occasions, viz., in 1899, in 1904, and in 1905. Before 1899 there was no record of any year free from cholera, and this satisfactory state of things can only be attributed to one cause, viz., the closing of the Northern route to cooly immigration. 9. Smallpox.—It is unfortunate that the record of this disease in 1905 is less favourable than for some years past. The reason of this is that smallpox was very bad at all the Indian ports, in Burma, and in the Persian Gulf. The first cases of this disease in Ceylon and many subsequent centres of infection could be traced definitely to arrivals from India and other infected countries. The difficulty of keeping this disease out of the Island arises from its long period of incubation (eighteen days), for it is obvious that it is impossible to segregate for that period the several hundreds of immigrants who arrive in Ceylon daily, and we can therefore only place in quarantine those arrivals whom we knowto have come from an infected area. The others are examined for satisfactory marks of vaccination, and if the arrival is for Colombo and unvaccinated the operation is performed on him before he leaves the Breakwater depot. In the case of estate coolies, they are vaccinated (when necessary) before they leave the Ragama Camp. 22(iv)06