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It is interesting to note that towards the total cost of the administration
of the St, Pancras Association for the Care of the Aged £680 was raised as a
result of voluntary contributions
Poliomyelitis
At the time of writing this report I have just returned from the fourth
International Poliomyelitis Conference held in Geneva and I feel sure that
you would like me to give you some indication of the present position concerning
the prevention of the disease
It is now some three years since Dr. Jonas Salk of Pittsburg America,,
produced a vaccine against poliomyelitis which could be manufactured in mass
quantities In America no less than 140 million doses of this vaccine have been
injected and there is evidence that it reduces materially the risks of contracting
paralytic poliomyelitis. Similar vaccines are being used in various other
countries. I have had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Salk in Rome, in Pittsburg
and in Geneva, and I am sure that he would like me to state that the credit for
the production of the vaccine lies with no one individual but in the work of a
highly skilled team
A similar vaccine is being manufactured in England. It has been given to
about 140,000 children, and there is evidence once again that it materially
reduces the risk of contracting paralytic poliomyelitis. The vaccine is similar
to Salk vaccine except that one of the three types of virus used is less
virulent than that used by Dr Salk.
I am often asked how long it will be before vaccine will be available to
the large bulk of persons in England to whom protection may rightly be afforded.
My information is that about 500 000 doses are being manufactured monthly
enough to immunise 250 000 children a month or 3 million a year It is possible
that when other firms manufacture the vaccine this production may be increased
On the other hand strict precautions have to be taken and even this figure may
not be achieved
I have also been asked whether the American and the English vaccines are
safe and to what extent,they are efficacious. I think that both vaccines are
safe and efficacious. As regards the American vaccine the injection of 140
million doses without untoward event is in itself adequate proof of safety and
strict precautions are taken in America to ensure that the production of the
vaccine continues under the most careful and strict control. In England the
vaccine prepared has shown itself to be equally safe and the strictest control
measures are adopted. The general impression at the Conference was that the
vaccine achieved a 75 per cent efficiency: that is that it reduced the incidence
of paralytic poliomyelitis to about one quarter of what it otherwise might be.
Generally I felt that there was considerable variation and that in some cases
it might be higher and in others lower, depending on various environmental
factors, and the type of virus causing the epidemic.
I have also been asked in view of the time which is bound to elapse before
sufficient British vaccine will be available for all those requiring it, whether
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