A cholera enquiry among boatmen at Calcutta in 1959

Abstract

1. 1) A cholera enquiry was carried out at Calcutta through the study of a sample of 1,000 boatmen at different spots on the River Hooghly and canals. According to their State of origin, 16.2 per cent. belonged to West Bengal, while the majority came from other States, especially Bihar (38.8 per cent.) and East Pakistan (41.2 per cent.). There was no underlying refugee problem as nearly all the latter group was Moslem. 2. 2) Among all the sampled boatmen, the Moslem : Hindu ratio was 74.3 : 25.4, as compared to a ratio of 12.6 : 87.4, respectively, in the city population. 3. 3) A vast majority (98.4 per cent.) disposed of the night soil directly into the river or canal, and almost the same proportion used the same water for ablution. 4. 4) A history of cholera attacks was given by 4.8 per cent., and 3 of these suffered twice; 79.2 per cent. drank river water against 64.9 per cent. of the unattacked group. A percentage of 19.7 suffered from severe diarrhoeal disease, of whom 21 were attacked twice. River water was used for drinking by 70.0 per cent. of these, against 62.0 per cent. among the unattacked group. Almost all boatmen were found to take their domestic water supply from the river. 5. 5) Of those who were attacked with cholera no one was immunized before his attack; while 36.1 per cent. of those who were not attacked received anti-cholera inoculation; 35.4 per cent. sought hospital treatment; 31.4 per cent. consulted other doctors; and 4.4 per cent. were not treated. Among the diarrhoea group the respective proportions were 2.0 per cent., 33.5 per cent. and 43.2 per cent. 6. 6) The very low income groups were the main sufferers. The families of 97.1 per cent. of the boatmen resided in their villages, while in 1.8 per cent. Calcutta was their place of residence; 81.6 per cent. used to meet their families at intervals of more than 3 months; 88.9 per cent. spent the night regularly in their boats. 7. 7) Among the cholera sufferers, in 6 instances 19 presumably secondary attacks occurred among the close contacts of the boatmen within 4 weeks from the onset. 8. 8) The study has shown that choleraic disease might be highly prevalent among the group of boatmen, as 24.5 per cent. of the investigated 1,000 survived 269 attacks of cholera or severe diarrhoea. Drinking raw river-water by those contributing significantly to its contamination, might be factors in the heavy intensity of infection among that group, and the whole community.