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8
Vaccination.
From the Vaccination Tables kindly prepared for me by Mr.
Vallance, the Clerk to the Board of Guardians, it appears that
re-vaccination is well attended to in this District.
In my Report for the Quarter ended July, 1880, it appears,
" from the Vaccination Returns which were laid before the Board of
Guardians and by them submitted to the Local Government Board,
that during the year 1879, 2735 births had been registered in the
Union. Of that number 2409 had been successfully vaccinated ;
one was unsusceptible of vaccination ; 227 died (or 8.3 per cent, of
the number born); 22 had been postponed, and 26 had removed to
other districts, or gone abroad. This Report, so far as the vigilance
of the Vaccination Officer is concerned, in tracing the children whose
births were registered in the District, and inducing the parents to
obtain vaccination for their children, is highly satisfactory, and
reflects great credit upon all those who are intrusted with the working
of the Vaccination Act ; for it shows that only 61, or 2.2 per cent,
were lost sight of; and as the authorities of those Districts where it
was ascertained the children had been removed to were apprised, it is
probable that some of the children were vaccinated in their new
abodes."
At the Meeting of the Board of Guardians held on Tuesday, 1st
February, 1881, Mr. Vallance reported that in the half-year to June,
1880, there were 1,464 births, and 1,298 successful vaccinations; 113
died ; 9 were postponed by medical certificate; 9 had removed to
districts, the Vaccination Officers of which had been apprized ;
33 removed to places unknown, and 2 were unaccounted for. Mr. Vallance
ventured to say that no Union could show a better, if as good, a
a return, and for a migratory district like Whitechapel, a loss of 2 and
2½ per cent, reflected the highest credit on the Vaccination Officer. This
opinion is in accord with that of every person who has had experience
in the difficulty of inducing parents in poor neighbourhoods to obtain
the benefits of vaccination for their children. It was further stated by
Mr. Vallance " that during the year 82 children had been born alive
in the Infirmary, and that (with the exception of 2 who died before
vaccination) they were all successfully vaccinated before discharge.
Beyond this, children admitted are always inspected, and during
the year 96 children under one year old had been vaccinated."
Greater benefit may be expected to result from the vigilance of
the Vaccination Officer during the intervals of small-pox epidemic,
in promoting vaccination, than during the actual prevalence of the
disease. It will be found that more cases of vaccination are performed
under the panic caused by the existence of small-pox, than
when the epidemic has passed away ; and thus it happens that many
nnprotected persons are left as victims to the next epidemic.