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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    These encouraging results have since been confirmed by numerous observa- tions made in plague-stricken localities, and a short account of the principal operations will now be given. The instances chosen are those in which the figures given may be regarded as reasonably accurate, and in certain cases per- fectly so ; and where the groups of inoculated and uninoculated were living in similar and therefore comparable conditions in each case. Many other com- munities in various parts of India have been operated on (as many as 1,628,696 doses having been issued from the laboratory up to December 1900), but owing to various causes, accurate observations were not obtained. In all cases without exception there has resulted a striking reduction of plague mortality, and also a markedly favourable effect on the case incidence has been produced. 1. Mora.—In the middle of March 1897, in the village of Mora to the south of Bombay Harbour, in Uran Municipality, with a population of about 1,000 inhabitants, 419 were inoculated. Only 7 of these were attacked by plague, and all recovered. In the uninoculated portion of the population, ac- cording to information furnished by the local Parsis, 26 cases occurred, of whom 24 died. 2. Daman.—This town, situated in Portuguese territory to the north of Bombay, and in constant communication with it by sea, was affected in February 1897. The infection is believed however to have been brought from Bulsar, or by sea from Karachi, as cases were first reported among arrivals from the former place, and in the fisher community who were in close connection with sailors from the latter port. By the end of the month a considerable exodus had taken place, and by the 30th of March, when a cordon was placed round the territory by the Bombay Government, it is estimated that 2,000 of the inhabitants had fled. The disease reached its climax in the middle of April, when as many as 80 corpses were buried in one day, began to decline towards its close, and became insignificant towards the end of May. After the closing of the cordon round the town the population remained stationary as regards immigration and emigration. The original population of the affected villages of Daman was 10,900, but as 2,000 fled before the closing of the frontiers, and 670 died of plague before the inocula- tions began, the figures to be dealt with are thus reduced to 8,230. The inocu- lations began on the 23rd of March, and were performed in 3 series on the following dates, 23rd to 26th March, l7th April to 2nd May, and 21st and 23rd May. Altogether 2,197 persons were operated on in Daman up to the date of the in- vestigation, carried out in the end of May 1897 by Major Lyons, I. M. S., Pre- sident of the Government Committee for Investigation of Bubonic Plague in Bombay. The results obtained by a careful house-to-house visitation and classified by periods were as follows :— Note,—In the folio-wing tables, the total numbers shown as inoculated are progressive, *'.e., the numbers for the second period include those for the first period; and those for the third period include the numbers for both first and second periods. Deaths are of course deducted in eaoh case, The number of cases of plague among the uninoculated could not be ascertained. <1 -4—* ^ CO O rH O <D -4-i Inoculated. Not Inoculated. Operators. Numbers. Cases. Deaths. Percentage of Mortality. Numbers. Deaths. Percentage of Mortality. O OQ rH & Dr. Kalapesi ... 846 17 3 0-4 nd Sh Dr. Poiares ... 171 6 3 1-8 CO CM Total ... 1,017 23 6 0-58 7,213 716 9-9 Dr. Poiares used the same vaccine as Dr. Kalapesi, but gave smaller doses, so his results were not so good. If the 1,017 inoculated had suffered in the