One of the most important of he} departmental annual reports issued by the Municipal Counteil is that of Dr, J, H, Jordan, Commissioner of Public Health; This year, in the introductory Holes io his Very! exhaualive report, Dr, Jordan states that the incidence of typhoid fever is a source of conslterable anolely to the department while he also reports that malaria, which has Increased steadily since 12%, is becoming one of the maler problems the Settlement has to face, Dr. Jordan's introductory notes are Important to the community that they are published in full:—this is the 30th Anhual Report of the de-tariment as gri organized department, {Noval the: foundations. of fs work were laid about 65 years ago, and atialpox vaccination has been carried with Oriet interruptions for neatly SOyears, The post year docs not show thy matters of onstanding. interest {om the public health standpoint.
the whole, it hes been a hesithy year and, though the: depression has Feeuited tua. slowing. down of here expehsive- preventive me ures, itis oe immedi importance bat get omitted' At ihe" same. time, I Dit be pointed out tha un epidemic any size would strain the resources of the department Advantage was taken of the absence
titlvlles of the department, and. to goitemiy [revise a rev lhe Hudy more closely certain" of the prevalent. in this's recent Indy, the -regietalion "of Torelgh and Chinese births, has proved of accurate view of the Populs tion in relation to disease, The figures recorded for foreign births, 2258 per mille, are approxima: {ely ssccura'e, but. birth, reqlatration (established only four years ago) It Intte Infancy te far ad tne. Chineye community fa concerned, and the te= erded birth sate of 1870 por mille, ie'ponsibly only half the tue. dure: Various methods' of stimulating intoreat tu the matter of regletration have, however. apparently Improved the Pubtle eonselence In is moter. when, for a variety of reasons, similar preventive measures were not taker, and It will be necessary to await ten year period of freedom at least before dogmatizing on the subject.
the moderately satisfactory figure of dtilaholere inoealtion rested in 192,043 inoculations exclusive of 3.- 863 second doses. The chlorination wells and the free supply of waler (through the courtesy of the Shatighal Waterworks Ca.) are now an established summer routine and form 4 valunble'adjuvant in antiholera wor Malarla of the thereass Malaria, unfortunately, presents, 0 much less salistactory situation, The disease has increased, steadily since 1927, and there Is mo doubt that it is becoming one of the major problems Shanghai has to face.
Tt is thought that to some extent the opahing Up of sew roads, though providing an outlet for the town, fends to result ju the importation of polo la, paruculely of the malignant form and that motor trafic to some extent functions 0s a carrier of inophelenes. from suburban distelels the central areas which were previously practically clear of the pernllous form of mosquito, Considerable, activity was _main-tailied in this direction and the work was eeniralized and entirely reorganized, to meet the imminent danger. in brief, manual methods were repineed by mechanized attacks ahd new forms of larvicides, deadlier fo the larvae, were utilized. The arvicide at present in use is that devised by an American worker named Ginsburg. Tt has been found to be more effective, easier to man late and cheaper than the elts previously used, Certain experimental adjuvants to mosquito mixtures, Involving the use of chlore-compounds of benzine and certain other organic chemicals, were Investigated, but it is too early to slate whether these" present any advantage over Ginsburg's mixture: Some of them show considerable promise, and.sinee this experimental work 1s not costly, it will be continued next year.
Death rates for the year, foreign 1427 and Chinese 1541 per mille, are distinctly higher than last year, part, to" an Increased "mortality from communteable disease through= out the community, but in the case of Chinese deaths, mainly to the fact that the exposed corpses collected wore over 3,000 higher than in 1995.
The following communicable dis~ eases showed an increased morbidity rate; scarlet fever, typhoid fever, smallpox and measles, and these in= ere ages were not restricted to any articular section of the community.
The Incidence of typhoid fever is 8 source of considerable anxiety to the department, and since none of the more obvious causes are implicated, It attributed to a degree of gemi-tropical area respect 10 Vell food and drink, Tt is notable that the gradual improvement sanitation in general has. apparently encouraged many of the: inhabitants of this elly to behave in regard to fruits and raw vegetables in a careless fashion during the last few years, almost og though they were in coun: tries where the manurial agency was Nol night sell, and one can only (tribute the undue prevalence of typhoid (the normal sources of which have one by one been diminished if not abolished) to habits. mentioned above, and to the probability that carriers sti remain in large numbers.
Files have not been markedly prov-aleut and the mille source of infocion can be said to have been ro-moved: as a result of compulsory pasteurization "in Weencad dairies. The remedy is thus largely In the hands of the public and no amount of exhortation oF effort by the de-
situation, bariment is likely to improve the Smallpox' slightly Epldem!
Smallpox existed in sporadic form the end of October when ueadually increased until by the end fof December it assumed the proportons of a slight epidemic, Since for over 80 years the department has conducted "strenuous vaccination propaganda It is amazing that a largo humber of the cases had neither been vaccinated nor re-vaccinated, regrettable that there has been a slight drop in the vaccination returns over last year, viz: 808,741 against Cholera was again absent... We are thus in the middle of one of the quiescent phases of the cholera cycle in Shanghat and it ts not in the least desirable to.be unduly confident that the absence'is due to the recent steps taken by the department in collabora-Yien with other administrations, a such an attitude ig unsclentif and tends to a sense of false security. Cholera has in the past been absent for more than Ave consecutive years, Following the publication of certain data by Dr. B, do Meliion of South Africa, an attempt has been made to destroy the Infected mosquitoes. houses where eases of malaria have been contracted. or are being nursed. While itis not thought that In a large town much as Shanghai these measures are likely to be as successful the labour camps of South Africa's poorer population, this matter has not yet been thoroughly investigated.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.