A campaign aiming at inoculating as many of the general public as were willing was instituted, and, in addition to the hospitals and dispensaries, special posts were opened for the convenience of the public. Nearly a million inoculations were carried out. The St. John Ambulance Association and Brigade gave valuable assistance as it had done in the vaccination campaign and useful help was also rendered by the Medical Faculty of the University of Hong Kong during the height of the epidemic.
Steps were taken to arrange for the chlorination of all pipe-borne water in the Colony and to cover an unprotected service reservoir.
Legislation was introduced which aimed at securing compulsory pasteurisation of all fresh milk as from the beginning of 1939—a period of grace being necessary to allow the operating dairies to purchase and instal their plants. Supplementary legislation was also introduced governing the cleansing of bottles, storage of milk, etc.
There is some reason to believe that the measures enumerated above had the effect of keeping the epidemic within more or less reasonable bounds, more especially since the refugee problem in 1938 was far more serious than it had been at the beginning of hostilities in 1937.
It may be worth while recording in this connexion that with an additional two or three hundred thousand persons at risk, the actual number of cases of cholera in 1938 was half that found in 1937.
CEREBRO-SPINAL MENINGITIS.
It is interesting to note that only eight deaths from cerebro-spinal meningitis were reported between 1897 and 1918. In that year a severe outbreak occurred accounting for 923 deaths.
From 1919 to 1937 inclusive, a hundred or more deaths were recorded only in 1919, 1932 and 1934.
In 1938, exactly twenty years after the previous serious outbreak, some 483 cases were registered of whom 223 or 46 per centum died.
As in the case of cholera, in cerebro-spinal meningitis males were more commonly affected than females, although the ratio was only 111 to 100. On the other hand, whereas cholera picked out adults, the large proportion of those affected with cerebro-spinal meningitis were children and young persons under fifteen years of age.
Only 109 out of the 483 cases were over fifteen years old.
Little could be done to combat the outbreak other than to encourage early notification and to secure suitable isolation, usually in the Infectious Diseases Hospital at Kennedy Town.
Stocks of anti-meningococcal serum were prepared by the Government Bacteriologist and their use was reported upon very favourably.
Supplies of sulphanilamide were also made available for the treatment of cases and appeared to give satisfactory results.
Efforts to combat overcrowding were doomed to failure from the start owing to the exceptional conditions arising out of the refugee influx, to the conversion of the all too few tenements into factories and schools and to the existence of many thousands of street sleepers who could not find even a bed space under the stairs in the congested tenements. This matter is dealt with indirectly under a later section of this Report.
OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
It is of interest to record the fact that two cases of typhus were recognized during the year. Both had been infected in Shanghai.
10
A campaign aiming at inoculating as many of the general public as were willing was instituted, and, in addition to the hospitals and dispensaries, special posts were opened for the convenience of the public. Nearly a million inoculations were carried out. The St. John Ambulance Association and Brigade gave valuable assistance as it had done in the vaccination campaign and useful help was also rendered by the Medical Faculty of the University of Hong Kong during the height of the epidemic.
Steps were taken to arrange for the Chlorination of all pipe-borne water in the Colony and to cover an unprotected service reservoir.
Legislation was introduced which aimed at securing compulsory pasteurisation of all fresh milk as from the beginning of 1939-a period of grace being necessary to allow the operating dairies to purchase and instal their plants. Supplementary legisla- tion was also introduced governing the cleansing of bottles, storage of milk, etc.
There is some reason to believe that the measures enumerated above had the effect of keeping the epidemic within more or less reasonable bounds, more especially since the refugee problem in 1938 was far more serious than it had been at the beginning of hostilities in 1937.
It may be worth while recording in this connexion that with an additional two or three hundred thousand persons at risk, the actual number of cases of cholera in 1938 was half that found in 1937.
CEREBRO-SPINAL MENINGITIS,
It is interesting to note that only eight deaths from cerebro-spinal meningitis were reported between 1897 and 1918. In that year a severe outbreak occurred accounting for 923 deaths.
From 1919 to 1937 inclusive, a hundred or more deaths were recorded only in 1919, 1932 and 1934.
In 1938 exactly twenty years after the previous serious outbreak, some 483 cases were registered of whom 223 or 46 per centum died.
As in the case of cholera, in cerebro-spinal meningitis males were more commonly affected than females, although the ratio was only 111 to 100. On the other hand, whereas cholera picked out adults, the large proportion of those affected with cerebro-spinal meningitis were children and young persons under fifteen years of age.
Only 109 out of the 483 cases were over fifteen years old.
Little could be done to combat the outbreak other than to encourage early notification and to secure suitable isolation, usually in the Infectious Diseases Hospital at Kennedy Town.
Stocks of anti-meningococcal serum were prepared by the Government Bac- teriologist and their use was reported upon very favourably.
Supplies of sulphanilanide were also made available for the treatment of cases and appeared to give satisfactory results.
Efforts to combat overcrowding were doomed to failure from the start owing to the exceptional conditions arising out of the refugee influx, to the conversion of the all too few tenements into factories and schools and to the existence of many thousands of street sleepers who could not find even a bed space under the stairs in the congested tenements. This matter is dealt with indirectly under a later section of this Report.
OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
It is of interest to record the fact that two cases of typhus were recognized during the year. Both had been infected in Shanghai)
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