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9
In a severe epidemic, such as that at Gloucester (1895-6), no
fewer than 279 unvaccinated children under 10 years of age died out
of 680 attacked (14 per cent.) Such fatality would not occur in less
than 3,000,000 primary Vaccinations, and a very little calculation
will show that the risk of a fatal issue amongst those attacked was just
6,000 times as great as from Vaccination. Comment is unnecessary,
but the facts are deserving of serious study. They seem to me to show
quite clearly that, although there is a certain amount of risk in
Vaccination, the risk is so small that it is one which should be readily
faced if it can be shown that Vaccination is for the good of the
individual and for the benefit of the State. A great deal has been
written and said about the serious nature of the risks, but they are in
fact very small, and are such as the members of my own Profession
readily incur for themselves, their wives, and their children, for though
they know them better than anyone else can know them, they judge
them to be, as they are, insignificant as compared with the risks of
Small Pox.
It is the duty of every one of us, as far as in us lies, to prevent
ourselves from becoming a centre of infection. Every one will, I think,
allow that if they want a good pair of boots, they should go to a good
bootmaker, and if they want a good loaf of bread, they should go to a
good baker; and similarly it might be expected that those who wish
to learn about Small Pox and its prevention would be wise to go to
those likely to possess the most accurate knowledge of the disease,
namely, those who have spent their lives in the practical study of Small
Pox. You will find that the unanimity of opinion expressed by
those (who have so spent their lives) as to the effect of Vaccination is
very striking, and that those who are opposed to Vaccination are either
those who have no very practical acquaintance with Small Pox, or whose
eyes have been so completely blinded by preconceived prejudice as to be
incapable of seeing aright. There are, unfortunately, armchair generals
even in medicine, who prefer to sit at home and deal out what they
consider destructive criticism to those who are in the midst of the fight,
rather than to be up and doing something for the good of the individual
and the welfare of the community.
Means which might be Adopted for Deciding the Question as
to Whether, and if so, to What Extent Vaccination Protects
Against Small Pox.
The question as to whether or not Vaccination protects against
Small Pox, and if so, to what degree, may be approached in various ways;
1st.—By vaccinating first, and inoculating with Small Pox after,
a test which cannot, of course, be made in the present day, but I shall
refer to this again.