View report page

24 Medical Officers of Health Annual Report.
This shows the steady falling oft in the amount of
vaccination performed in the district, so that in 1897
nearly one child out of every five born was not protected
from Small Pox. This is not so high a proportion as in
some London districts, but is a serious risk to the community,
as the larger the proportion of unprotected persons
in a population the more risk there is of a Small
Pox epidemic. The figures for 1898, when they become
available, will most probably show a worse state of
things, as it is common knowledge that the uncertainty
as to the provisions of the recent Vaccination Act caused
much indifference to the subject, and unwillingness to
put pressure on defaulters. It is, of course, quite too
early to form any judgment as to what the effect of the
new system of providing gratuitous vaccination will be,
but it is earnestly to be hoped that improvement will
result, and that the infantile population of London
will become more thoroughly vaccinated.
Undoubtedly, the great defect of recent legislation,
from the point of view of preventing Small Pox, was
the absence of any provision for re-vaccination, which
would have done much to remove the danger from the
comparative neglect of vaccination in early life.
sanitary The usual table is given below, showing some
operations, details as to work done. More particulars
will be found in the local reports in reference to matters
not included in the table.
On comparing the figures with former years, there
is found to be a slight falling off in the number of houses
and premises inspected, there being a decrease of 450 on
last year. It is also seen that the amount of inspection
varies very considerably in the different sub-districts.
Thus Streatham, with a population nearly the same as
Wandsworth, does less than half the amount of