in the same building in 1894, identified the causative organism of plague simultaneously with. but independently of, Kitasato. The microscope used by Yersin is still in the Institute and it is of considerable interest that, despite its age and do more than routing care, there is no sign of fungus on the lenses.
400. The Institute with its adjacent animal house is the main Government laboratory centre in the Colony; there is a major branch of the Institute at the Kowloon Hospital. Small clinical laboratorics are maintained at the Queen Mary Hospital, the Tsan Yuk Hospital, the Sai Ying Pun Hospital and the Lai Chi Kok Hospital. The work of the Institute covers the wide field of routine clinical pathology. public health bacteriology, histo-pathology, daily autopsics in the two public mortuarics in Victoria and Kowloon, supervision of the Blood Banks and vaccine production.
401. The staff consists of the Government Pathologist who is of Specialist rank, two Pathologists, one Medical Officer and two Assistant Medical Officers; there are one Chief Laboratory Technician, onc Senior Laboratory Technician, three Laboratory Technicians and forty three Laboratory Assistants; of the latter twenty six are under training to meet the staff requirements inherent in the development plans.
402. Plans for the future include a modern and expanded Institute which will be included in the new Sai Ying Pun Polyclinic, due to be completed in 1959, and which will replace the present Institute. In addition both the new Kowloon Hospital and the new Mental Hospital will have clinical pathology facilities; plans are also afoot to build a vaccine laboratory in the New Territories.
403. 379,974 specimens were received for examination during 1957. This represented an increase of 48,707 over the previous year. The increase was general throughout all sections of the work, the major increase being in the haematological examinations carried out in the clinical laboratories in the hospitals.
404. The following comparisons are noteworthy :
Haematological examinations
Culture of sputa for M. tuberculosis Sections for histological diagnosis
1956
1957
46,726
63,756
3,552 1,102
4,504
1.06%
405. As in previous years the staff of the Institute gave a course of lectures on Communicable Diseases and Bacteriology to Health Visitors and Health Inspectors. Student Male Nurses were attached to the
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Institute for three months of training in simple laboratory procedures. Student laboratory workers from the Hong Kong Anti-Tuberculosis Association and the Government Veterinary Laboratory were also attached for short periods of training.
Vaccine production
406. Vaccine to the value of $213,595 was produced and for the most part issued free to hospitals, clinics and medical practitioners for use in the Colony,
407. Lanolated call lymph vaccine reserve stocks were maintained by the preparation of 37 litres of vaccine; the actual routine demand required 28 litres. The demand for rabies vaccine remained steady and 100 litres were prepared. Small batches of typhoid-paratyphoid and cholera vaccines were also prepared to meet the routine requirements, No plague vaccine was manufactured during the year.
408. The vaccines produced in 1957 were:
Anti-smallpox vaccine Anti-cholera vaccine
Anti-typhoid-paratyphoid (Adult) Anti-typhoid-paratyphoid (Children) Anti-rabies vaccine (25%) Anti-rabies vaccine (4%) Diluted Tuberculin
THE PUBLIC MORTUARIES
36,800 ml.
30,000 ml.
9,450 ml.
20,300 ml.
38,400 ml.
25.500 ml.
15,400 ml.
409. At the Victoria Public Mortuary 1,049 autopsies were per- formed; of these 274 were medico-legal cases, including eighty two referred to the Forensic Pathologist. There were 266 unnatural deaths which included five homicides, 133 suicides and 128 deaths due to accidents. Drowning, hanging and jumping from heights accounted for 130 of the suicides.
410. In the Kowloon Public Mortuary there were 3,338 post-mortem examinations. Of these 424 were medico-legal cases including 117 examined by the Forensic Pathologist. There were 424 unnatural deaths comprising nine homicides, 143 suicides and 272 accidental deaths. The suicides were fifty eight by hanging, forty three by poison, twenty Hine by jumping from heights and twelve by drowning; one suicide was by a cutting instrument.
411. Another function carried out at the public mortuaries is the examination of specimens of rodents for plague, 267.756 rats were
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