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43
With regard to improvements in the law as to Vaccination there are certain
that are, above all others, very important: —
1.—To fix a standard of primary vaccination of at least four separate
marks, and an area of at least half a square inch of vaccinated surface
or cicatrix.
2.—To require that all certificates of primary vaccination should state
the number of successful marks and the area covered by the vaccination
surface.
3.—To provide that no certificate of primary vaccination should .be
accepted as a successful certificate unless conforming; to this standard,
and to provide for dealing with unsuccessful certificates and cases.
4.—To give the vaccinifer the option of having calf lymph.
5.—To provide for the gratuitous supply of calf lymph to every
vaccinator.
6.—To provide for re-vaccination between the ages of 10 and 12 years,
and at any future periods of life, and during epidemics.
One other paragraph from the Report of the Royal Commission may be
quoted—
" 503.—We can see nothing, then, to warrant the conclusion that in this
country vaccination might be safely abandoned and replaced by a system of
isolation. If such a change wero made in our method of dealing with smallpox,
and that which had been substituted proved ineffectual to prevent the
spread of the disease (it is not suggested that it could diminish its severity in
those attacked), it is impossible to contemplate the consequences without
dismay.
" To avoid misunderstanding, it may be well to repeat that we are very far
from underrating the value of a system of isolation. We have already dwelt
upon its importance. But what it can accomplish as an auxiliary to vaccination
is one thing, whether it can be relied on in its stead is quite another
thing."