M 22
The numbers of cases of infectious disease notified during
the year were :—
Bubonic Plague 2
Cholera 0
Smallpox 977
Diphtheria 140
Scarlet Fever 1
Enteric 207
Para-typhoid 3
Relapsing Fever 0
Cerebro-Spinal Fever 25
Typhus 1
Yellow Fever 0
Puerperal Fever 14
Rabies (human) 1
Rabies (animal) 3
Smallpox.--Every year during the winter months this disease manifests itself in outbreaks which are sometimes sporadic sometimes epidemic. Whatever be the prevalence there is always a tendency for the morbidity rate to decline or disappear with the advent of summer. Considering its high infectivity, its terrible disfigurement and the frequency of fatalities the indifference shown by the Chinese to the presence of cases in their midst is amazing. All Chinese know smallpox and the presence of a case in a crowded tenement house cannot escape the notice of the occupiers but for some obscure psychological reason they refrain from reporting its presence to the authorities, and more often than not the first notification received by the Medical Officer of Health is that from the Mortuary where the body, dumped in the streets at night, has been taken for diagnosis. The sole information received by the Health Authorities concerning the case is the sex of the deceased, the apparent age and the diagnosis. The name, the address, the number of contacts and the period during which the case has been a focus of infection are unknown.
After the 1916-1917 epidemic in an endeavour to stop the practice of dumping and to encourage notification of cases, the Sanitary Board passed a resolution that patients suffering from smallpox be allowed to be treated in their own houses provided that-
(a) all cases in the district be notified to the Medical
Officer of Health;
(b) all inmates of the houses be vaccinated;
(c) a notice be posted on the door of the house where
the patient is being treated.'
The results did not come up to expectations for the populace ignored the concession and continued their practice of concealing cases and dumping corpses. The practice of allowing cases to remain in the crowded tenement houses has been in vogue for 11 years and at least 75 per cent still remain concealed and unnotified. The following table shows some details regarding cases and notification:-
M 22
The numbers of cases of infectious disease notified during
the year were :—
Bubonic Plague
Cholera
Smallpox
Diphtheria
Scarlet Fever
Enteric
Para-typhoid
Relapsing Fever
Cerebro-Spinal Fever
Typhus
Yellow Fever
Puerperal Fever
Rabies (human)
Rabies (animal)
2
0
977
140
1
207
3
0
25
1
0
14
1
3
Smallpox.--Every year during the winter months this disease manifests itself in outbreaks which are sometimes sporadic some- times epidemic. Whatever be the prevalence there is always. a tendency for the morbidity rate to decline or disappear with the advent of summer. Considering its high infectivity, its terrible disfigurement and the frequency of fatalities the indif- ference shown by the Chinese to the presence of cases in their midst is amazing. All Chinese know smallpox and the presence of a case in a crowded tenement house cannot escape the notice of the occupiers but for some obscure psychological reason they refrain from reporting its presence to the authorities, and more often than not the first notification received by the Medical Officer of Health is that from the Mortuary where the body, dumped in the streets at night, has been taken for diagnosis. The sole information received by the Health Authorities con- cerning the case is the sex of the deceased, the apparent age and the diagnosis. The name, the address, the number of con- tacts and the period during which the case has been a focus of infection are unknown.
After the 1916-1917 epidemic in an endeavour to stop the practice of dumping and to encourage notification of cases, the Sanitary Board passed a resolution that patients suffering from smallpox be allowed to be treated in their own houses provided that-
(a) all cases in the district be notified to the Medical
Officer of Health;
(b) all inmates of the houses be vaccinated;
(c) a notice be posted on the door of the house where
the patient is being treated.'
The results did not come up to expectations for the popu lace ignored the concession and continued their practice of con- cealing cases and dumping corpses. The practice of allowing cases to remain in the crowded tenement houses has been in vogue for 11 years and at least 75 per cent still remain con- cealed and unnotified. The following table shows some details regarding cases and notification:-
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