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32
SMALL-POX.
No case of this disease has been notified in the district
for 1913. The addresses in this district of several persons who
had been in contact with a case of Small-pox on board ship
were received at various times. These were all followed up,
and observation exercised until the incubation period was
safely ended, but no further development took place in any
of these instances.
VACCINATION.
The Vaccination Officer informs me that during the year
765 primary vaccinations were performed. Taking the number
of births as being 1,500 in the year, we see that at the
most half the children born in Ilford are vaccinated. This is
a most serious state of things from the public health point of
view. The introduction of two or three cases of Small-pox
into Ilford would lead to many other cases in susceptible contacts,
and in all probability a devastating epidemic would
ensue before there would be time to protect, by vaccination,
all the unvaccinated inhabitants.