Statistics of inoculations with Haffkine's anti-plague vaccine, 1897-1900 : compiled from records in the Plague Department of the Secretariat and the Plague Research Laboratory, Bombay / by W. B. Bannerman.

  • Bannerman, W. B. (William Burney), 1858-
Date:
1900
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Statistics of inoculations with Haffkine's anti-plague vaccine, 1897-1900 : compiled from records in the Plague Department of the Secretariat and the Plague Research Laboratory, Bombay / by W. B. Bannerman. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    Dates. Classification. Daily strength. Cases. Deaths. 1st day ( Uninoculated 177 2 1 \ Inoculated ... 151 1 0 2nd day f Uninoculated TInoculated ... m 150 1 0 1 0 3rd day \ ( Uninoculated 173 1 1 X Inoculated ... 146 0 0 5th day f Uninoculated 171 1 1 TInoculated ... 146 0 0 6th day f Uninoculated 169 £ 1 (.Inoculated ... 146 0 0 7th day ( Uninoculated 169 5 1 (.Inoculated ... 146 1 0 Thus in an average uninoculated population of 172, there occurred 12 cases, with 6 fatalities, while in an inoculated group living in exactly similar circumstances, and averaging 147 in numbers, there were only 2 attacks and no deaths at all. This result, having become known, naturally encouraged the inhabitants of Bombay City to apply for inoculation in large numbers, and during the course of the season of plague prevalence, i.e., up to October 1897, altogether 8,142 persons were operated on. The following table shows that those inocu- lated belonged to all castes and ages:— Sex and Age distribution. Adult males 5,259 „ females 1,668 Children of 10 years and under. 1,079 Unclassified ... ... ... 136 Race distribution. Parsees... ... ... 3,414 Brahmins ... • • • 298 Kshatriyas • • • 486 Yaisyas... Ml 219 Sudras ... • • • 805 Other Hindu Castes ... 339 Mahomedans ... • • • 1,478 Europeans • • • 467 Native Christians Ml 414 Jews • • • 84 Japanese • • . 2 Unclassified ... 136 In this early period in the introduction of inoculation, it is probable that cases of plague appearing among those inoculated were promptly reported to the Laboratory staff, as the whole medical profession in Bombay were watching its effect with the keenest interest. The reported number of attacks and deaths among the 8,142 inoculated persons may therefore probably be taken as fairly accurate. Eighteen cases of undoubted plague were thus reported and investigated by officers of the Labora- tory. Of these 2 died and 16 recovered. The two former were ascertained to have had the signs of the disease on them at the time of inoculation, and therefore may be left out of account, as the operation does not profess to be curative in this sense.