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produced two Friern Barnet contacts, neither of them,
fortunately, close contacts of the Tottenham cases.
It was, however, necessary to keep these contacts
under the closest surveillance in order to ensure that,
should a case arise, all essential steps to prevent
spread of the disease could be taken without delay.
It was not considered necessary to call on the services
of the smallpox consultant for the Area.
I would take this opportunity here of expressing
my sincere thanks to the Public Health Inspectors, who
did so much useful work during this period in tracing
contacts and keeping careful watch on houses from which
contacts had been reported.
The occurrence of definite contacts of a disease
such as smallpox requires urgent and immediate attention.
No gaps must be left in our defences; nothing must be
left to chance. Fortunately, as I have already stated,
the smallpox interlude passed without incident. This
was very largely due to the excellent way in which the
limited outbreak in Tottenham was handled. During
this period we persuaded several persons, either known
contacts or members of households in which contacts were
residing to be vaccinated.
The incidence of the smallpox cases in Tottenham
points all too clearly to the fact that the risk of
smallpox is till with us. When it is remembered that
the state of vaccination in Great Britain as a whole is
anything' but satisfactory, the danger will be even more
apparent. It is not so many years ago that the
percentage of infants being vaccinated in Friern Barnet
was less than 10. By the end of 1955 we knew that
44% of Friern Barnet children who had reached the age
of two years were protected by vaccination against smallpox.
By December 1957, this figure had reached the
very satisfactory level of 65%. This, of course, is
almost entirely due to the advice constantly given to
parents attending our clinics, by our Assistant Medical
Officers and Health Visitors, who by their continual
persuasive efforts have encouraged mothers to take the
fullest advantage of the facilities for vaccination now
provided at all our clinics.
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