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HANSEN'S DISEASE.
During the period of public anxiety in January following cases of Small
Pox imported into the country from Pakistan, a large local industrial undertaking
employing a considerable number of Indian and Pakistani nationals sought
advice in connection with vaccination. Some 340 vaccinations were performed.
One recently arrived member of the staff, heavily pock-marked, also had open
lesions on his face and forehead of recent origin, and this had given rise to
a rumour amongst his workmates that he was suffering from Small Pox. On
investigation it was quite clear that the man was suffering not from Small
Pox but from Hansen's Disease, later confirmed by biopsy, and further that it
was in an infectious phase.
Having no English,communication was difficult but through an interpreter
it was ascertained that he had been in touch with his local doctor and had
visited a nearby hospital as an out-patient.
Arrangements were made for his immediate admission to the Dreadnought
Hospital on the I7th January 1962. He was still being detained in a Colony at
the end of the year, and the condition appeared to be responding to treatment.
He was a married man with two children. These and other home contacts
were examined with negative results.
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