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

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St George (Westminster) 1877

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hanover Square, The Vestry of the Parish of Saint George]

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81
others who have been occupied here (and in her case the
operation was neglected) should have contracted the disease
is, or should be, convincing proof enough of its great and
almost certain prophylactic influence. In a word, if revaccination
was not the preventive, I know not what was."
N.B.—" Dr. Gayton has further informed the RegistrarGeneral
that since the Hospital was opened, more than
seven years ago, 367 nurses and others have been engaged
in the work of the Hospital, and with the solitary accidental
exception mentioned, re-vaccination has been an indispensable
condition of employment, unless the applicant had
had small-pox, or had already been vaccinated. The result
has been that not one of these has contracted small-pox
while there employed." (Reg.-Gen. Report for week ending
June 1st, 1878.)
Contrast this with the fact that in the Homerton Fever
Hospital (only reopened for the reception of fever cases on
September 27th, 1877) "during the year 2 nurses contracted
enteric fever, 2 scarlet, and 1 typhus, and they all
recovered." (Dr. Collie's Report.)
The Homerton Fever Hospital was used for small-pox
cases from December 8th, 1876, to May 12th, 1877, during
which time 915 cases of that disease were admitted, of
which 173 died, giving a total mortality of 18.8 per cent.
Dr. Collie tabulates the cases, and sums the results up
as follows:—
"It will be seen from the accompanying tables—(1)
that the unvaccinated died at the rate of 53 per cent.;
(2) that the badly vaccinated died at the rate of 26 per
cent; (3) that the fairly well vaccinated died at the rate of
2.3 per cent.; and (4) that but 1 death occurred in any
person under 16 years of age who showed two good cicatrices
of vaccination, and after 16, only three such persons died."
So that the result is the same in all cases, with large
F