AnnualReport-1938 — Page 448

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279. All prisoners admitted during the year were inoculated against cholera and 12,378 were vaccinated against smallpox. Prisoners who showed signs of recent vaccination on admission and had only short sentences to serve were not vaccinated on admission.

280. The causes of death among male prisoners are shown in the subjoined table.

281. A disquieting feature associated with the Hong Kong Prison lies in the fact that, whilst cell accommodation was only 1,612 almost twice this number of prisoners had to be incarcerated at one time. With tuberculosis such a serious problem in these territories, this is a regrettable state of affairs. Government is fully alive to the situation and schemes are under consideration for the construction of detention camps in the New Territories, where short sentence prisoners (most of whom are the victims of economic conditions, as, for example, unlicensed hawkers and wood stealers) will be housed and given useful occupation.

Table XXVIII.

No. of cases.

Chronic nephritis

Fibro-sarcoma of lung

Chronic pulmonary tuberculosis

Acute encephalitis

Strangulated hernia

Acute pulmonary tuberculosis Tubercular enteritis

Generalized pulmonary tuberculosis

Bacillary dysentery

Septicaemia

Cerebral haemorrhage

...

Meningitis (pneumococcal) Bronchiectasis

Myocarditis

Fatty degeneration of heart

Pulmonary infarction

Apical pneumonia

1

1

17

**

1

1

3

6

7

2

2

4

1

1

8

1

1

1

Lobar pneumonia

3.

Chronic appendicitis

...

1

Cirrhosis of liver

Acute nephritis

Senility

Acute cardiac failure Carcinoma

"Myelitis of the cord" Secondary anaemia

2

1

2

2

1

...

1

1

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