Annual medical and sanitary report / Uganda Protectorate.

  • Uganda Protectorate. Medical Department.
Date:
[1919]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual medical and sanitary report / Uganda Protectorate. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    12/68 (page 12)
    Apart from this the Protectorate was fairly free from severe epidemics. Of the three main Townships, Kampala, Jinja and Entebbe were free from Plague, as in 1918, until the last quarter, when a few cases occurred at Jinja and then at Kampala. The epidemic of Smallpox which was general throughout the Protectorate in 1918 died down in the first quarter. The following table shows the number of cases of Plague, Cerebro-Spinal Fever and Smallpox in the three Townships for the last six years: Table A. Plague. Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis. Smallpox. 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 Entebbe Cases ... 2 36 ... • • • 1 18 14 . .. . . . 41 8 16 151 37 Deaths... 1 33 1 7 7 ... ... ... 4 4 3 38 9 Kampala Cases ... • • • 238 122 8 ... 21 141 3 ... ... 46 40 331 414 27 Deaths... 216 110 3 ... ... 13 106 1 ... 9 9 67 128 ... Jinja Cases ... 23 1 62 8 15 5 1 18 4 3 8 47 41 24 113 140 1 Deaths... 14 1 54 7 15 4 1 15 4 3 8 . . . 14 7 30 47 ... Totals Cases ... 23 1 302 166 23 5 2 57 159 6 8 47 128 72 460 705 65 Deaths... 14 1 271 150 ... 18 4 2 35 117 4 8 27 20 100 213 9 ( Communicable Diseases. (I) Mosquito ok Insect Borne. 1. Malaria.—The returns shew that 4,352 cases were treated with 10 deaths, Kampala alone accounting for 1,195 of these. The returns for this disease are far more accurate than last year for at many stations, including Kampala, no case is entered in the Hospital Register unless parasites are found in the blood. The natives who have been trained in this work are proving to be a great help in saving the time of the Medical Officer and Sub-Assistant Surgeon in this respect. The thick film method is used for routine blood film examinations. The seasonal incidence of malaria is shewn in short form in Appendix I, para. 4, together with the Blackwater Fever cases and the Rainfall. •2. Blackwater Fever.—68 cases were reported with 12 deaths, in addition the Church Missionary Society returns shew 15 cases with 6 deaths. This is a very large increase over last year’s figures which show 29 cases with 4 deaths, plus 11 cases with .3 deaths in the Church Missionary Society Hospitals. For full report see Appendix I. 3. Pyrexia of uncertain origin.-—The numbers under this heading are still far too high, 3,558 with 6 deaths being reported, as against 3,333 with 10 deaths in 1918. With the engagement of more boys trained in microscope work it is hoped that this total will decrease very considerably in the near future. 4. Belapsing Fever shows an increa.se this year, from 65 cases with 3 deaths to 143 cases with 4 deaths. Of these over 100 can be attributed to the Masaka-Mbarara Road Camps, most of which are now destroyed. 16 cases occurred in a Labour Camp at Butiaba, but by burning the Camp and moving the men to a fresh site the infection was stopped. 5. Trypanosomiasis.—51 cases with 8 deaths were treated in our Hospitals and Dispensaries, including 42 at Mbale, from the Mpologoma infected area. These were brought in to Hospital by Dr. Marshall who was trying the effect of Salvarsanised Serum. Vide Appendix V. It has been known for years that people have been living in the Mpologoma prohibited area in close contact with infected fly and that numbers of cases of Sleeping Sickness existed there but the administration have not been able to carry out the repeated recommendations of this Department in this respect owing to shortage of staff.