Supplement to the annual sanitary report of the Province of Assam.

  • Assam (India)
Date:
[1932]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Supplement to the annual sanitary report of the Province of Assam. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    6/10 (page 2)
    OKGAIUSiTIQN, Treatment is atforded by the two Public Health dispensaries, viz., Digaru and Hahim, which are situated in the Yaws endemic areas. The dispensary at Digaru is situated a furlong from the railway station of the same name and its sub-centres are placed all on the South Assam Trunk Road, at Kapalkata (21st mile) Khetri (26th mile) and the most eastern centre at Verakuchi (30th mile). This dispensary with its sub-centres really serves a stretch of land about 35 miles long. At each of these centres kala azar and leprosy are also being treated. In the month of June 1933 the centre at Boko Local Board dispensary has been re-opened. The Yaws cam¬ paign began in a very small way and has steadily progressed and there has through¬ out been no interference with kala azar activities. The Assistant Surgeon, Public Health Department, Nowgong, was trained in the technique of diagnosis and treatment at the Digaru dispensary and its sub-centres in December 1932 and a centre at Morigaon was opened in Nowgong district. The Assistant Surgeon, Public Health Department, Goalpara, had also his training at Digaru and its sub-centres in June 1933 and a treatment centre at Agiya is being shortly opened. The Sub-Assistant Surgeon of the ^giya Public Health dispensary had also his training in the centres in eariy part of the year. * _} e • * i ■ t r* - „ e t ' ■’ . r\ Treatment. It has been found by experience that Yaws is characterized by the extreme chronicity of the condition and requires prolonged treatment in all but its earliest stages in contrast to the general impression given in text books that Yaws is readily cured by one or two injections of N. A. B. Of 263 cases treated by Dr. Dey in 1929-30, 141 cases were traced subsequently. These ca^es had been treated with injections of 0 3 or 0’45 grammes of N.'A. B. and the number of injections received by each case is shown below : — r i re' r t * .» .\ t •' -. Total. Clinical relapse. Serum. Positive. Negative. One injection 101 47 34 20 Two injections ... 29 12 11 6 ' Three ditto 7 3 2 2 Four ditto 0 1 1 0 Six “ditto 2 2 0 0 141 65 48 28 Of these 65 showed clinical relapse prior to 1931 and sera of the remaining 76 cases were examined at the Pasteur Institute showing 48 positive and 28 negative. Thus of the whole series 20 per cent, only could be regarded as permanently cured. Here in our centres various synthetic arsenicals and preparations of Bismuth were used either alone or in combination, with the object of finding the ideal remedy. Mercury and Iodide seem to find no place in the treatment of Yaws as they do in syphilis. Of the arsenicals the following were given fairly extensive trial. 1. Halarsol (marketed by May and Baker) a 2*5 per cent, solution containing active principle of the arsenobensol series. 2. Neosalvarsan.