View report page

31
[1931
SMALL.POX.
Of the confirmed cases, numbering 64, five had been vaccinated in infancy,
but at least 20 years had elapsed in every case since vaccination. The unvaccinated
cases numbered 59.
(In addition to these Islington cases, five residents of the Borough of Finsbury
were notified from Archway Hospital, four of which proved to be Smallpox. The
disease in these cases showed itself after the admission of the patients).
Over half the infection was caused by an outbreak in Thornhill Road L.C.C.
School, where 23 children were infected, and 11 other cases were traced directly to
cont.act with these children. With the consent of the Medical Officer of Health the
Public Vaccinator for the district attended by arrangement with the school
authorities at Thornhill Road School to enable vaccination to be more expeditiously
carried out when the consent of the parents had been obtained. While probably
more vaccinations were done owing to the convenience afforded, the response of
the parents to this offer of free vaccination of their children was, on the whole, a
poor one in view of the proportions this outbreak attained. One would have
thought more than 28 would have come forward.
As regards the other cases apart from the school infection, there were 30
verified cases, four infected by contact with cases in other Boroughs, two infections
in the hop.fields, one in the workplace, and in the others the primary infection was
not definitely traced. A Table is given of classification as to the source of infection
in the cases.

The type of Smallpox has continued as before to be of the extremely mild type
known as Variola minor, and in common with other boroughs the procedure of
surveillance which was adopted in former years for the severe Asiatic form of the
disease has been modified in accordance with modern opinion and the continued
mildness of the cases. Close contacts are kept under observation by periodic
visitation at their homes and enquiries from the responsible persons as to their
health. Should anything be amiss, the matter is reported to the Medical Officer of
Health for his personal consideration. Unless circumstances are exceptional,
visits to the homes of contacts are confined to the usual office hours. The surveillance
of contacts at workplaces has been discontinued. Information that an
individul has developed Smallpox is still given to the employer if he works in
Islington, but if he works outside the Borough, the Medical Officer of Health of