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9
amongst us at all; it occupies an exceptional position amongst diseases
we should have no Cholera and no Typhoid Fever if our water supply
were pure, and our system of drainage perfect, but to compass both these
ends would be a work of huge cost and difficulty. Small Pox, however,
can be prevented absolutely with a minimum of both. Were vaccination
and revaccination universal, we should be free from this foul disease.
Revaccination is eminently necessary. Infantile vaccination is not in
itself sufficient. In the 1871 epidemic between 14,000 and 15,000 cases
were treated in the various London Small Pox Hospitals; of these 22 per
cent, had been vaccinated in infancy, of the unvaccinated 45 per cent,
died, while only about 1 per cent, of those with good marks succumbed,
even of those having one cicatrix only, not more than 5 per cent. died.
Of the whole number of these cases only; four had ever been revaccinated;
none of the nurses at the hospital took the disease, with the exception of
two, and these it was afterwards discovered had been overlooked and had
never been revaccinated.
Unfortunately there has recently been a good deal of agitation, by the
anti-vaccinationists, against Jenner's life-saving discovery; these fanatics
are perfectly rabid upon the subject, to reason with them is useless, they
are impervious to facts, to statistics, and experience; every death that
occurs from Small Pox in an unvaccinated person is as much due to these
madmen as though they had wilfully distributed the infection. A statement,
no matter how untrue, if repeated often enough, and with noise
enough, will find some believers amongst the ignorant and credulous, and
these are the very people who, believing the lies of the anti-vaccinators,
decline to submit their children to the protective influence of the
operation.
As there is a great deal of misunderstanding and imperfect knowledge
on the subject of vaccination, I think I cannot do better than reprint a
most admirable and exhaustive report upon the matter from the pen of
Dr. Iliff, the talented Medical Officer of Health for St. Mary, Newington,
upon the subject:—
Dr. Iliff on the Vaccination Question.
At the Newington Vestry Meeting on Wednesday evening, Dr. W. T. Iliff made the
following report:—