London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Edmonton 1913

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Edmonton]

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33
large firms in the district have enjoyed this privilege for some years and I have
hopes of adding to the list of firms doing so, as I find that employees are
quite willing to subscribe at least one penny per week to this useful fund,
which is usually started by a donation from the firm.
Charts are given dealing with scarlet fever, diphtheria, and enteric fever,
based on the uniform plan of a temperature chart. These charts graphically
show the weekly incidence of these diseases, both for 1912 and 1913.
Small Pox. A satisfactory feature of the infectious returns for the year
is the absence of small pox from amongst them; since 1904 the district has
enjoyed a complete immunity from this disease. An epidemic of this dreadful
disease is overdue, and judging from the returns of the Vaccination Officer there
are many Edmonton children unprotected from infection, and sure to die if
attacked. There were no deaths from chicken pox.
Vaccination. The following table of vaccination returns for the year
1912 has been kindly supplied by Mr. Lowman, the Vaccination Officer. The
returns for 1913 will not be available for some months.

VACCINATION RETURNS FOR 1912.

Births,Successful Vaccinations.Conscientious Certificates.Deaths under one year un-vaccinated.Still unvaccinated but address known.Postponed owing to illness.Certified unsusceptible.Removed and Untraced.
184474149011282974318*

*Some of the cases removed are known to have been vaccinated, but as the certificates
were not received, they could not be included in the return. It should be noted that omitting
to forward the certificate is as much an offence against the Vaccination Acts as neglecting to
have the child vaccinated. In 1907 there were only 72 certificates granted to parents who
alleged they had conscientious objection to vaccination, but there were 174 in 1908, 240 in
340 in 1910 and 396 in 1911. This large increase of persons unprotected from smallpox
will gratify no one but an anti-vaccinationist.

The numbers and the percentage of objections to total births registered during those years were given by the Government in July as follows

Year.Exemptions.Percentage of Total Births Registered.
190757,6756.3
1908162,79917.3
1909190,68920.9
1910230,94725.7
1911248,48328.2
1912275,92931.6