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62
There can be no question of the value of recent vaccination
as a prevention against Smallpox. Especially is this
marked in the contacts, for example:—taking three
families of 21 persons exposed repeatedly to Smallpox infection,
four of them had been vaccinated and 17 unvaccinated:
all the 17 contracted Smallpox, whilst the four
previously vaccinated escaped.
In a Smallpox epidemic of this nature, within a residential
area such as Bromley, one meets with many difficulties.
On one side, because of there being no deaths, one is liable
to be accused of making too much fuss of a mild disease,
and on the other side, one was not doing enough; schools
should be closed, vaccinations made compulsory, and all
contacts isolated. There is some truth on both sides. The
disease was Smallpox, and as such had to be eradicated;
that it bred true to type is, I believe, now accepted.
A mild type does not give rise to a toxic type, nevertheless
in an epidemic of mild type Smallpox, severe cases do
arise. To close schools would handicap control and make
the supervision of contacts almost impossible; to make
vaccination compulsory would, in my view, undermine the
present active public opinion that the only prevention
against Smallpox is recent and successful vaccination.
There is no need to isolate contacts if they are kept under
daily observation, and have been successfully and recently
vaccinated. Apart from all this the public responded well
to our directions, and were of great assistance to the officers
of the Department. Without it our efforts would have been
practically useless.
I am indebted to the Relieving Officers for the following
figures giving primary vaccinations during the year.
Ti is to be noted that primary vaccinations increased over
1929 as a consequence of the Smallpox epidemic, but that
only 351 babies under one year out of a total of 629 born in
1930 were vaccinated, must indicate the ineffectiveness of
the present routine administration.
Primary vaccinations.
Sub-Districts. Under 1 year. 1 year & upwards. Total.
Bromley North 211 337 548
Bromley South 140 293 433
351 630 981