Annual report of the Director of Public Health for the Government of Bombay.

  • Bombay (India : State). Public Health Department.
Date:
[1923]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report of the Director of Public Health for the Government of Bombay. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    35/184 (page 25)
    Cholera. 68. The number of deaths recorded from cholera was 9,221 against 2,768 in 1922 and 12,886 the decennial mean. The death-rate was O'48 against 0-14 in 1922 a decennial mean 0*66 and a quinquennial mean 0*70. The following table gives the deaths recorded in previous years :— Year. Number of deaths. Year. Number of deaths. 1900 163,000 1912 64,505 1901 13,600 1913 5,134 1902 3,229 1914 17,779 1903 1,825 1915 377 1904 13,156 1916 19,841 1905 5,396 1917 17,003 1906 46,119 1918 8,834- 1907 7,656 1919 51,551 1908 1,759 1920 2,047 1909 28,714 1921 3,521 1910 3,694 1922 2,768 1911 5,817 1923 9,221 It will be noted that the epidemics of 1900, 1906, 1912 and 1919 were of great severity. All were years of abnormal monsoon. 69. In the Presidency proper 18 out of 20 districts were infected. Details for all districts are given in Annual Form No. VII. The history of 1923 is late appearance of infection—only about one- third of the deaths up to end of June and thereafter movements of the people during pilgrimages provided the means of spreading the disease. Cholera is all but preventible and if it were possible to stamp it out be¬ fore the season arrives, the scourge would be very considerably modi¬ fied. Pandharpur and one or two pilgrim centres are provided with efficient sanitary and preventive arrangements but Pandharpur is only the chief centre of a sequence of pilgrimages to which the stream of pilgrims annually resort and for these the same efficiency in sanitary efforts during fairs is indicated. This, in my opinion, could only be effected by a comprehensive unified scheme of control over pilgrim taxes and sanitary measures by a central body over all pilgrim centres in the same group. 70. The heaviest incidence of cholera was in the Central Registra- tion District with 6,963 deaths or three-fourths of the total. Three towns in particular suffered badly, viz., Baramati, Junnar and Wai with a death incidence of 7 • 90, 6 • 37 and 6*17 per mille of population. Taking the Collectorates separately, their histcry is as follows :— Sholapur and Satara Collectorates were earliest affected; by May, Poona and Nagar also were reporting cases and the epidemic was at its height in July and August. In Ahmednagar incidence was almost general, 227 villages reporting cases and the total deaths reached 2,044 out of 4,479 (reported) attacks or a 45'6 per cent, case mortality. The incidence of death per mille of population was 2*83. Rahuri Taluka p l—4