The Straits Settlements medical report.

  • Straits Settlements. Medical Department.
Date:
[1912]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Straits Settlements medical report. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    5/184 (page 3)
    The majority of the cases seen in Singapore occur amongst jinrikisha pullers. Of 53 admissions to the General Hospital 34 were of this occupation and 9 out of 11 bodies showing typhoid ulcers at the public morgue were also pullers. The question of “ carriers” amongst them needs investigation but with this class of people a thorough examination is practically impossible. Dr. McVail in his report on Tan Tock Seng’s Hospital explains the reason for the high mortality rate. 13. Beri-beri.—The deaths from beri-beri were 1,926, as compared with 2,056 in 1911. The following table gives the deaths from beri-beri for the last five years for all Settlements:— Deaths from Beri-beri. Settlement. 1908. 1909. 1910. 1911. 1912. Singapore ... 1,117 873 1,071 1,220 1,224 Penang 534 399 367 368 349 Province Wellesley 20 11 6 6 6 Dindings ... 2 4 7 9 ... Malacca 227 219 267 443 344 Labuan ... • • • 19 10 3 Total 1,900 1,506 T737 2,056 1,926 The following are the number of cases of beri-beri treated in the various hospitals of the Colony for the past five years :— Beri-beri cases treated igo8-igi2. Year. Total Cases. Deaths. Percentage of Deaths. 1908 ... 2,777 284 10-23 #i909 ••• 2,118 224 10-57 1910 ... 2,044 290 14-18 1911 2,152 242 11*24 1912 ... 2,032 293 14-41 370 chronic cases treated at the Beri-beri Hospital at Pasir Panjang but 3 died from the disease. 14. Venereal Diseases.—The admissions to all hospitals in 1912 were 3,318 with 39 deaths, compared with 2,591 with 40 deaths in 1911. Salvarsan, in selected cases of syphilis, has proved most successful and will be more largely used in future. 15. Phthisis.—Deaths registered from this cause numbered 2,582, against 2,907 in Ig11 arid 2,571 in 1910. It must be some years before the many sanitation works completed and under construction by the various Municipalities can be expected to show any marked beneficial results in the death-rate from this disease. 16. Dysentery.—The deaths from this cause totalled 1,549, against 2,035 in r9IX and 1,392 in 1910. The total treated in hospitals, 1,845 with 654 deaths, compared with 2,268 with 996 deaths in 1911. Dr. SCOTT, the Acting Government Pathologist, attaches to his report some most interesting and instructive remarks upon this disease. 17. Malaria.—The deaths from this cause numbered 4,303. There were also 4,194 deaths returned as being due to fever unspecified, a large number of these were undoubtedly malarial fever. The admissions from malarial fever to the Hospitals of the Colony, where all cases are diagnosed microscopically, were 9,172