Annual medical and sanitary report / Trengganu.

  • Terengganu. Medical Department.
Date:
[1930]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

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

    7/34 (page 3)
    (I) General Diseases. Skin Diseases account for 6,888 cases, of which 3,144 are returned under the heading tinea, and 2,370 under scabies. It is probable that many of the cases labelled scabies are cases, either of tinea, or of staphylococcic origin. An interesting skin affection is associated with yaws, showing itself between the date of the appearance of the primary affection and the secondary eruption. It is characterised by an arborescent macular rash becoming papular in places and seen principally on the trunk. It is evanescent and usually disappears leaving some of the papules to develope into the typical secondary eruption. It is called “ bunga ” and later as the papular form “ ketot puru.” Beri Beri is constant in its appearance during, and immediately after, the North East Monsoon. The seasonal incidence is shown as a graph appended to this report. Similar graphs for the years 1926, 1927 and 1928 show a correspondence in the seasonal incidence. The total number of cases was 915. The number of cases treated in the hospital was 97 with 12 deaths. Radio malt is now being given to Beri Beri patients with encouraging results. (II) Communicable Diseases. Mosquito or Insect-borne:—Malaria becomes more prominent as a cause of sick¬ ness year by year. This is due to the opening up of the hinterland. The main sources, from which the severe cases of malaria coming under medical observation are derived, are to be found in new properties, in jungle, being felled and cleared as, for example, the new Japanese Iron Mine at Dungun, and in new road construction. Reference will be made supporting this statement under Hygiene and Sanitation. The seasonal incidence is shown as a graph. The total number of cases treated was 5,775. The number of cases treated in hospital was 641 with 27 deaths. Infectious Diseases. Dysentery. The returns from medical institutions for this disease do not represent the actual relative incidence as is clearly seen by referring to the figures recorded by the Registrar of Deaths under the heading, Dysentery, where 243 deaths are shown. If it is legitimate to draw inferences from hospital cases it would seem that bacillary dysentery in Trengganu is more common than has heretofore been recorded. Of the 61 hospital cases 15 were bacillary, 16 amoebic, and 29 chronic undefined. Influenza was common but complications were rare, 1,621 cases were treated. The seasonal incidence is shown as a graph. Yaws. There is little doubt that this disease is being brought under control in those districts where treatment is available. In Kuala Trengganu, where treatment by injection of Bismuth Sodium Tartrate on Saturday mornings has been regularly carried out for the last 5 years, the attendances of local patients have so diminished that at the present time the great majority of patients attending come from distant villages. With the establishment of small native hut dispensaries an attempt is being made to sterilize district by district. Two Travelling dressers will be at work. They will proceed system¬ atically, and will stay in a village long enough to give thorough treatment. It is anticipated that it will be possible, in course of time, to declare this district as sterile to yaws, and that district as under treatment for yaws, and still later the State as sterile to yaws. The table below may be instructive as evidence of the therapeutic value of Bismuth Sodium Tartrate in the treatment of yaws. The figures are of cases under treatment and observation at the dispensary, Kuala Trengganu, during the past 5 years. The patients are practically all Malays, who recognize and are anxious to obtain the cure. It may be assumed that they come until all obvious lesions have disappeared. Treatment of 7,603 cases of Yaws by Bismuth Sodium Tartrate. Number of injections Number of cases Percentage of cases 1 5,131 67.48 2 1,895 24.92 3 318 4.18 4 140 1.84 5 60 98 6 and over 59 77