Surprise attack.

Date:
1951
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Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

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Credit

Surprise attack. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). Source: Wellcome Collection.

About this work

Description

A small girl (unvaccinated) is infected with smallpox; recovers, but is marked for life. This story of an outbreak in a country town tells how it was caused and the measures taken to limit its spread. The film is an appeal to all parents to have their children vaccinated in infancy. Not suitable for showing to young children. 2 segments.

Publication/Creation

UK : Ministry of Health, 1951.

Physical description

1 encoded moving image (11 min.) : sound, black and white

Duration

00:10:07

Copyright note

Crown copyright, managed by BFI.

Terms of use

Unrestricted
CC-BY-NC
Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 2.0 UK: England & Wales

Language note

In English

Creator/production credits

A Crown Film Unit Production. A Central Office of Information film for the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Central Council for Health Education.

Notes

This video was made from material preserved by the BFI National Archive

Contents

Segment 1 A soldier carries his little girl back to their house and tells his wife that she's not feeling well. The family doctor visits and asks the mother to tell him if she develops a rash. Later, he receives a telephone call - the girl now has a rash on her face and arms. He visits and calls the Medical Officer of Health for a second opinion. The medical officer visits the house (despite having been on his way to the theatre with his wife) and confirms that the girl has smallpox. They inform the parents, who are shocked. The mother reveals that their daughter was never vaccinated, and they think that a rag doll the father brought back with him from the east may be the cause. The medical officer explains that he needs to stop the smallpox spreading so needs to know everywhere their daughter has been. A matron is seen, telling nurses to prepare for an isolation case. Time start: 00:00:00:00 Time end: 00:05:17:11 Length: 00:05:17:11
Segment 2 The medical officer sends out a letter to all doctors in the area, and emergency vaccination centres are opened. The little girl is taken to hospital. The community's reaction is seen, from gossip to queueing to be immunised. The parents are seen with the family doctor, when they receive a telephone call saying that their daughter will survive. However, the doctor tells them that her face will be marked for life. The medical officer addresses the audience, saying that if the child was vaccinated it would not have happened. He says that 11 people died in this outbreak. He then shows photographs of patients with smallpox, warning that they are unpleasant. He urges parents to get their children vaccinated, pointing out that air travel around the world will increase, making contagion more likely. Time start: 00:05:17:11 Time end: 00:10:07:21 Length: 00:04:50:10

Type/Technique

Languages

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