Sessional_Paper_1900 — Page 347

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I am inclined to think, however, that the epidemic of Bubonic Fever may be responsible for not n few of these deaths which were recorded as due to convulsions, for it is no doubt quite possible to overlook the evidences of Bubonic Fever in infants of such tender age. That the disease may occur in infants is shown by the fact that during the past year 15 infants of less than one month old, and 20 infants between the ages of 1 and 12 months proved on post-mortem examination to have died of Bubonic Fever. Almost the whole of the infants whose deaths are recorded as due to these convulsive diseases are left at one or other of the various Convents, in a moribund condition, and are interred without post-mortem examination.

MALARIAL DISEASES.

The total number of deaths among the Chinese from Malarial Diseases was 532 as compared with 506 during the previous year; this is equal to a death-rate from this cause alone of 2.19 per 1,000. The death-rate among the boat population alone from this cause was 1.8 per 1,000, being less than the mortality among the land population, which is contrary to what has obtained in former years.

There were 197 deaths from Beri-Beri during the year, which number is somewhat in excess the average for former years.

The increase occurred during the latter end of the year, and although not amounting to an epidemic gave cause for grave anxiety for a time. The following table shows the numbers of deaths. that occurred among the Chinese during each month of the year :-

January,

February,

March,..

April,

May,

June,

.12

.10

.11

.11

11

.15

July, August, September, October, November, December,

·

.15

··18

.16

.24

.29

..25

The poorest quarters of the city were most affected with the disease and deaths occurred in new as well as in old houses, and in houses fronting wide streets as well as in those in narrow lanes, while several deaths occurred in matsheds put up for the temporary accommodation of workmen engaged in building operations.

In the Appendix will be found the addresses of all those Chinese who died from this disease during the year (other than imported cases or those occurring on boats in the Harbour) and from this table it will be seen that in no case did a second death occur in any house, although no disinfection of the premises was attempted.

A small outbreak of a disease which was considered to be Beri-Beri occurred, at. the latter end of the year, in the Berlin Foundling Home. The following is a brief account of the outbreak.

It was stated that the Blind Home, a one-story building, which contained about sixteen blind Chinese children, had had cases of Beri-Beri since July, and that the children from the Blind Home attended divine worship at the Berlin Foundling House. This latter house contained 102 children. and girls up to the age of 16 or 17 years; and at the latter end of November, two of the young children, both of whom were being surgically dressed-one for an affection of the eyes and the other for some skin affection-developed symptoms of Beri-Beri. Within a couple of days fifty to sixty other children were attacked with similar symptoms On December 7th 69 school-children, all of whom were suffering from this disease, with six big girls (who were in good health) to assist in look- ing after them, were sent to Macao, leaving 27 healthy children in the house. Two of the children, died in Macao shortly after their arrival there, but the remainder rapidly improved in health.

The main symptoms in these cases were dropsy and marked heart weakness, with in some cases; a staggering gait and loss of reflex, but no marked evidences of paralysis, and it was suggested that the disease might be Epidemic Dropsy, but as many of the characteristic symptoms of this latter discase, notably the rasli, the continued fever and the evidences of intestinal irritation were also absent, it seemed more reasonable to suppose that the outbreak was one of Beri-Beri, especially as two or three of the patients who were seen by various medical men in the Colony were undoubtedly suffering from Beri-Beri.

The children who were attacked were all between the ages of 4 and 7 years and all of them slept n a series of adjacent ground floor rooms. These rooms are thoroughly well lit and ventilated and have close-boarded floors which are painted. Some children who slept on ground floor rooms in nother part of the building were not attacked nor were any of the girls who slept upstairs. No European cases of the disease occurred.

The children's dietary was a most generous one comprising rice, eggs, fish (fresh and salt on alternate days), meat (beef or pork) at every evening meal and thrice a week with the morning meal,