Annual report on the medical services / Sierra Leone.

  • Sierra Leone. Medical Department.
Date:
[1953]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report on the medical services / Sierra Leone. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    8/38 (page 6)
    8—ENDEMIC DISEASES 31. Malaria.—The Malaria Control Unit remained in charge of anti-malarial work, but at the end of the year work was re-organised. Routine larvicidal activity in Freetown was put in charge of the Health Department, reduced Malaria Unit under the Entomologist remaining in charge of residual spraying of imagocides. This re-organisation was to become fully effective on 1st January, 1954. Throughout the year 38,188 patients of whom fifty-three died, were treated at Government hospitals and dispensaries. The figures for 1952 were 38,003 cases and fifty-nine deaths. In addition, two cases of Blackwater fever with one death were recorded among Africans. 32. The use of D.D.T. emulsion continued unchanged. During the rains a mobile gang of oilers operated from Headquarters. This gang was despatched to an area on discovery of adult Anophelines. Much more extensive use was made of contact imagocides in the Freetown area. Some houses (ca. 2000) in the Freetown Urban area were sprayed with B.H.C. preparabons in the early rains. In the suburban areas of Freetown the programme was extended to include quarterly spraying of all areas east of the Granville Brook and west of the Congo River. B.H.C. wettable powder was used where possible. Some of the better class houses were sprayed with 20 per cent B.H.C. emulsion concentrate. This was rather expensive and its use has been discontinued. Control of Fungi airport by residual spraying of surrounding villages with B.H.C. with larvicidal measures on the airport continued. No new Bunds were built. A serious breach was formed in the Bund at Aberdeen by an extraordinary high tide in September. Extensive floowing and scouring of drains in the empoldered area occurred before the breach could be closed. Maintenance of the Bund is expensive but there is no other practical solution to malaria control in the Western area apart from erection of Bunds. 33. The following table shows the monthly room densities in Freetown of the female malaria vectors for the years 1946 to 1953:— 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 January .. 0.020 0.020 0.000 0.002 0.006 0.000 0.001 0.000 February .. 0.020 0.010 0.003 0.000 0.028 0.009 0.012 0.0014 March .. 0.030 0.000 0.003 0.000 0.000 0.002 0.001 0.0014 April .. 0.020 0.000 0.006 0.000 0.004 0.000 0.003 0.000 May .. 0.140 0.01 0.035 0.001 0.015 0.001 0.002 0.0035 June .. 0.680 0.120 0.045 0.091 0.061 0.073 0.026 0.002 July .. 0.190 0.14 0.020 0.082 0.086 0.030 0.021 0.007 August .. 0.02 0.010 0.001 0.014 0.007 0.005 0.000 0.0095 September .. .. 0.000 0.000 0.005 0.003 0.000 0.006 0.000 0.0014 October .. 0.000 0.000 0.005 0.001 0.000 0.006 0.001 0.007 November .. .. 0.000 0.000 0.003 0.001 0.000 0.004 0.001 0.0028 December .. .. 0.000 0.000 0.003 0.004 0.000 0.005 0.001 0.0014 34. The Annual Average Room Density indices for Freetown- -1947 to 1953 were:— 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 Freetown 0.027 0.011 0.017 0.017 0.012 0.006 0.0048 35. The Distribution of the species of the important vectors caught in various areas was as follows:— G. M. F. R. 1952 1953 1952 1953 1952 1953 1952 1953 Freetown control houses 53 49 _ _ _ i _ _ Kissy control houses Western Area (including Aberdeen Bund) 131 74 1 — 1 — — — control houses 56 76 1 — — — _ _ Wellington control houses 2,562 3,109 225 — 96 73 — — G—gambiae giles M—gambiae var melas theo F—funestus giles R—rhodesiensis theo