REPORT ON THE WORKING OF THE KING INSTITUTE, GUINDY

47

TABLE II.

     Table II shows the number of cases of Dysentery that occurred in the Jail during and
subsequent to the formation of the Bowel Gang. In all, there were 128 cases of Dysentery of
which 121 came from the Bowel Gang out of a total strength of whereas from amongst the
convicts declared healthy there were only seven cases out of a total strength of 4,277. The
healthy group furnishing only 5.5 per cent of the cases of Dysentery whereas 94.5 per cent
of the cases were admitted from the Bowel Gang who had already been declared infected and
suffering from Dysentery in a latent form. The admissions for Dysentery from middle of
November to middle of December showed an increase both from the normals and the abnor-
mals. During these months the number of flies was excessive. A regular campaign for the
extermination of these insects was started and when these were controlled the admissions for
Dysentery fell. The Jail surroundings were cleared of all shrubbery and special care was
paid to the proper maintenance of the latrines and disposal of excreta. Additional sanitary
measures were recommended to ensure a clean kitchen.

     The figures for admission and death from Dysentery in September 1922 were 27 and 10
respectively. The corresponding figures for March were 12 and 2 respectively. The daily
average jail population in September was only 1,393 while in March it rose to 1,662. (See
Graph III.) These satisfactory results were certainly due in a large measure, to the prompt
detection isolation and treatment of the latent dysentery cases and also to the fact that
within a fortnight of our arrival, I eliminated 15 out of 50 cooks who were handling the food-
supplies as being carriers of latent Dysentery. Three of these men were actually suffering
at the time from an acute attack of the diesase.

     An interesting feature revealed during these observations is one which Major Cunning-
ham drew pointed attention to, in his Dysentery Enquiry in Bengal and which was again
observed in the Bellary Enquiry, viz., that a higher proportion of abnormals was detected
from amongst the more recent arrivals into the Jail, when compared with the groups who had
been in the Jails for some time receiving the benefit of a systematised and up-to-date treat-
ment and living amidst sanitary surroundings. Out of the 966 convicts who were in the Jail
at the time I commenced work, only 212 or 22.2 per cent were found to have latent Dysen-
tery; of these 27 or 2.9 per cent were classed as suspicious and out of 3,088 new arrivals 912
or 29.5 per cent had latent Dysentery; of these 211 or 6.8 per cent were classed as suspicious.

Cerebro-spinal fever.

     At the time enquiry started at Cannanore, there were no cases of Cerebro-spinal fever
in the Jail and so the Director thought it unnecessary to examine for Cerebro-spinal fever
carriers. On the 20th of October, there was a case cerebro-spinal fever in the local sub-jail.
On enquiry it was found to be prevalent in a sporadic form in the Mappilla country and at
Calicut where the Mappillas were being sent for trial. Reports from Bellary also revealed the
fact that some of the Mappilla prisoners recently transferred to that Jail contracted Cerebro-
spinal fever. As large batches of Mappilla prisoners were coming into the clearing station
from these infected places, it was feared that an epidemic might break out. As this disease
is known to occur in aggregations of people living in over-crowded places the following
precautions were taken as per the recommendations of the Director:—

     1. The new arrivals were inoculated with a prophylactic meningococcal vaccine prepared
at the King Institute.

     2. The naso-pharyngeal swabs of every convict were taken on admission and examined
culturally for menigococci.

     3. Medication of the naso-pharynx with a view to disinfecting the throat was done and
also a daily nasal douche for 10 days with normal saline ordered.