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70
Smallpox
No cases were notified during the year, but a number of contacts
were reported arriving in the Borough from abroad and these were
kept under surveillance for the requisite period.
Public Health (Smallpox Prevention) Regulations, 1917.—These
Regulations give a Medical Officer of Health power to vaccinate or
re-vaccinate without charge, any contacts of Smallpox cases willing
to submit themselves for treatment.
Vaccination.—Smallpox is a very dangerous and disfiguring
disease and prior to the introduction of compulsory vaccination in
1853, nine-tenths of smallpox victims were children under 5 years
of age. Subsequent to this period, children, by and large, escaped.
However, since 1898, when the "conscientious objection" clause
made its appearance, vaccinations have declined steeply and the
position deteriorated still further from 1948 when vaccination
became optional.
Glycerinated calf lymph is the standard vaccine used in this
country and the number of primary vaccinations carried out in the
Borough during 1967 was 2,350, 2,106 under Council arrangements
and 244 by general practitioners, the total indicating a fall of 300
from the previous year. Figures for re-vaccination were 46 and
79 respectively.
Occasionally a smallpox scare in the country results in a steep
rise in the number of vaccinations effected, as witnessed during
1962, but generally the trend is downwards.
Today, although every precaution is taken at seaports and
airports, infected persons do occasionally slip through but the
comparative immunity of the country has hitherto been due mainly
to its high vaccination state. With the fall in the number of vaccinations
this fortunate state of affairs cannot continue indefinitely.
Measles
The normal biennial fluctuation was evident in the number of
cases notified during the year which increased from a total of 1,250
in 1966 to 2,345, the figure for the current year.
Only 62 cases, 18 of whom were non-resident, were removed to
hospital. There were no deaths recorded.
Prior to 1954, no vaccine against measles was available for the
virus causing the disease had not been isolated. However, protection
could be afforded by the antibodies contained in gamma globulin
prepared from the blood of persons who had already had an attack
of measles. This kind of protection had a very limited life and,
moreover, it was very expensive. Since then, much research has been