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21
As soon as the enquiries were instituted the Vaccination
Stations were opened in the evening to give facilities for the revaccination
of adults who were prevented by their occupation
from attending during the day, and over fifteen hundred St.
Pancras Parishioners were re-vaccinated at the public stations
during the months of June, July and August. The number revaccinated
by private practitioners is unknown. At the same
time immediate notice was given to the Public Vaccinator, by
the Sanitary Department, of every case of Small Pox which was
brought to knowledge, and with as little delay as possible he
proceeded to the house and offered to vaccinate or re-vaccinate
all who were insufficiently protected. The ambulance of the
Metropolitan Asylums Board was speedily procured owing to the
telephonic communication which now exists between the Vestry
Hall and the Offices of that Board; the sick were removed to
hospital whenever this was permitted, and the disinfection of the
house and its contents immediately followed. The arrangements
for preventing the extension of disease were therefore complete
with the one exception, that notification to the Sanitary
Department of all cases could not be enforced.
I have no hesitation in expressing the opinion that the action
of the Guardians has been of great value to the Parish, that it
has been and will in the future be a means of saving life, for
the protection afforded to those people who have given practical
effect to the recommendations which have been urged upon them
is not limited to the epidemic period of 1884. Even if regarded
from the lower view point of money expenditure, it will be found
that the cost of five hundred pounds which have been expended
will eventually make an ample return in saving money which
would otherwise be lost in hospital provision for persons
suffering from Small Pox, and in maintaining those who as the
result of every Small Pox epidemic become a more lasting
charge upon the ratepayers.
The steps which have been taken in 1884 I should desire to
see repeated from time to time, and especially when there is
reason to believe that Small Pox is likely to assume epidemic
proportions in the Metropolis.
S Every year gives evidence of the dangers of Small Pox, thus
Mr. Bichards, Vaccination Officer, brought to my notice the case
of a woman of advanced years, living in the Maiden Road, to
whom a case of Small Pox had occurred. He found it impossible
to convince her that advancing years did not confer immunity
from Small Pox upon the unvaccinated. Her death from this