View report page

35
sleeves were subsequently passed on to another person to fit and
sew into bodices, three days before the supposed bilious attack was
diagnosed as Small-pox. In the family to which these sleeves were
sent was a boy who, unlike its other three members, had never been
vaccinated. He alone caught the complaint and suffered from a
severe attack. By means of thorough disinfection, and the quarantine
of all those who were judged to have been exposed to the infection,
the disease was promptly stamped out. It was thought probable
that the first case contracted the disease in Islington, as there were
three cases in a neighbourhood which she sometimes visited, but it
was quite impossible to trace the origin of the infection with any
precision.
The Royal Commission on Vaccination has issued its final
Report, and the questions considered, and the opinions arrived at by
all save two dissentient Anti-vaccinators, may be well summarised in
the form of questions and answers:—
Q. Has Small-pox diminished since the introduction of
vaccination?
A. Yes.
Q. In those households attacked, does the disease differentiate
between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated members?
A. Yes. The vaccinated escaped and the unvaccinated suffered
out of all proportion to their respective numbers.
Q. In an affected community, does Small-pox make the same
differentiation as in infected households?
A. Yes.
Q. Are those classes who are re-vaccinated, i.e., postmen,
policemen, nurses, specially protected as compared with
the rest of the community?
A. Yes.