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It will be seen from the above figures that this disease is much less prevalent among the Chinese than among Europeans in this Colony, the ratio of cases to population being in the case of Europeans 2.4 per 1,000 and in the case of Chinese 0.018 per 1,000.
Small-pox.
During the year 38 cases of Small-pox were certified, of which 2 were Europeans, 28 were Chinese and 8 were of other races; 10 of the cases were imported. One Japanese case and 24 of the Chinese cases died.
The number of vaccinations for the year was 6,721 as compared with 7,655 in 1908.
Efforts were made during the year to secure the re-vaccination of school children, and a memorandum was issued to all school teachers in the Colony setting forth the advantages of re-vaccination, while arrangements were made for this to be done free of cost at the schools on application. A copy of the memorandum is appended to this report. As a result, 91 re-vaccinations were performed in Government Schools and 138 in Grant Schools—which cannot be regarded as altogether satisfactory in view of the fact that the children in the above schools number more than 6,500.
Diphtheria.
Twenty-two cases of Diphtheria were notified throughout the year, one of them being an imported case. Four of these were Europeans and four were "other Non-Chinese" leaving fourteen Chinese cases. Eight of the cases occurred in March and four in December while no case occurred during the months of July, August and September. Eight of the Chinese cases were infants left at the various convents, without addresses, and one of the European cases was a Sister at the Victoria Hospital.
Eleven of the Chinese cases died, and also one Portuguese infant.
Puerperal Fever.
Nineteen cases of this disease were certified throughout the year. Eighteen of these were Chinese and the remaining patient was an Indian; all of these cases died. The average number of known deaths from this disease for the decade ending 1908 was nine.
ALICE MEMORIAL MATERNITY CHARITY.
The Government employs eight Chinese midwives, trained in Western methods, to attend the poor in their confinements, and during the year 1,381 cases were attended by these women as against 1,043 in 1908. Two of the mothers died of Puerperal Fever, while there were 40 cases of abortion and 46 still-births. 43 of the infants died during the year, 21 were taken back to China, while 63 were lost sight of owing to removals; the remainder of the infants are well.