CO129-564-4 Cholera epidemic 23-8-1937 - 9-4-1938 — Page 28

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in all about 25 centres.

The

The St. John Ambulance Brigade were supplied with free

vaccine for use at their centres in the New Territories.

public were strongly recommended to avail themselves of this

means of protection and readily responded. At these centres

253,362 inoculations were given.

In addition, local private medical practitioners gave inocu-

lations on payment.

The vaccine used in the first instance was prepared by the

Government Bact., but on 7.8.37, 100,000 c.cs. of Cholera vaccine

were received by air mail from the Shanghai Municipal Council.

Thereafter supplies were obtained locally and from the Pasteur

Institute at Bandoeng.

The Port Health Authority arranged for the crew and emigrants

on all vessels departing overseas to be inoculated.

was also recommended to cabin passengers.

Inoculation

The large shipping companies insisted that all passengers

produce inoculation certificates signed by a Government medical

officer or private medical practitioner.

The large number of foreign war refugees sent down from

Shanghai were all inoculated immediately on arrival, and no

cases of cholera occurred among them. In most cases only one

prophylactic dose was given, the average strength of which was

3000 million organisms in 1 c. c.

It was extremely difficult to obtain any useful information

from patients as many of them were illiterate and many were too

collapsed.

Figures showing the incidence of the disease among the inocu-

lated and uninoculated relate only to a proportion of the total

cases. of 52 cases known to have received anti-cholera inocula-

tion 25 died a mortality rate of 48%. Of 462 cases which had

not received inoculation 306 died a mortality rate of 66%

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