Report from the Select Committee on the Vaccination Act (1867) : together with the proceedings of the Committee, minutes of evidence, appendix and index.

  • Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Vaccination Act (1867)
Date:
1871
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report from the Select Committee on the Vaccination Act (1867) : together with the proceedings of the Committee, minutes of evidence, appendix and index. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

    62/558 (page 38)
    Mr. C.T. Pearce. m.d. 7 March 1871. Tuesday, 7 th March 18/1. MEMBERS PRESENT: Dr. Brewer. Mr. Jacob Bright. Mr. Alderman Carter. Mr. Stephen Cave. Mr. Hibbert. Mr. Holt. Lord Robert Montagu. Mr. Muntz. Dr. Lyon Playfair. Mr. William Henry Smith Mr. Taylor. JOHN TOMLINSON HIBBERT, Esq., in the Chair. Mr. Charles Thomas Pearce, m.d., re-called; and further Examined. 706. Chairman.] Will you now continue your , answer with reference to your third and fourth propositions ?—I now proceed to offer evidence in support of my third proposition, viz. :— “ That the natural liability to small-pox in adult life diminishes in the unvaccinated, whilst it increases in the vaccinated.” The present panic has led to what may be called a re-vaccination mania. Mr. Simon, the medical officer of the Privy Council, in his me- moranda which appeared in the “ Times ” of 7th February 1871, says— “ Everyone past childhood on whom re-vacci- nation has not before been successfully performed ought, without delay, to be re-vaccinated.” This advice is echoed by the College of Physicians, in the “ Times ” of 9th of February. I think we have a right to test this advice and ascertain what value it possesses, and how far we are justified in interfering with a natural law unless the operation of that law is proved to be detrimental to life. I know of no natural law which can be charged with such an offence. Man suffers individually, socially, and politically when he infringes a law of the Creator, or ne- glects its observance. Let us examine how far this re-vaccination dogma is consistent with facts, and what justification there is for its infliction on the community. Here it is necessary to go back to a period when vaccination was not in vogue, before 1798, indeed when Jenner published his first volume entitled “ An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolas Vaccinas,” and compare the natural susceptibility to small-pox then with that which is found in vaccinated or partly vaccinated popu- lations. In page xxx of Mr. Simon’s Papers on Vacci- nation, I find a statement that— “ Duvillard gives an analysis of the 6,792 deaths from small-pox which happened during nearly two centuries (1580-1760) in the city of Geneva, and the numbers belonging to the six successive quinquenniads of life up to the age of 30.” This was before the introduction of vaccination, and it is remarkable that only 17 of the whole number of cases were over 30 years of age, and only 141 died over 15 years of age of 6,792 deaths. Uie ratio of deaths above 15 years of age was only two per cent, of all ages, while the ratio of deaths above 30 years of age to whole number was only 2^ to a 1,000. In the following, Duvillard’s cases are tabu- lated :— Number of Deaths. Ages. 5,467 Under 5 years of age. 1,058 From 5 to 10 years of age. 126 From 10 to 15 years of age. 54 From 15 to 20 years of age. 39 From 20 to 25 years of age. 31 From 25 to 30 years of age. 17 Above 30 years of age, When it is borne in mind that the foregoing 'fable was carefully compiled by a most eminent man from records extending over a period of 180 years, the objection cannot be raised that it was singular and exceptional, and compiled during a particular epidemic. Having now seen what the natural disposition to small-pox is in adult life when uninterfered with by vaccination, let us now see the contrast between the unvaccinated and the vaccinated. In the unvaccinated we have seen the compara- tive immunity in adult life, following the rule which applies to other diseases allied to small- pox, I mean measles, scarlatina, and whooping- cough, almost essentially diseases of childhood, I now proceed to show that this comparative im- munity in adult life is altered by vaccination. At page xxx of Simon’s Papers on Vaccina- tion, Professor Heim, of the Wurtemburg Mili- tary Service, records 1,055 cases of small-pox in vaccinated persons of all ages. Of those above 15 years of age no fewer than 761 died, being two- thirds of the whole number Heim’s Cases. Number of Cases. Age. 40 Under 5 years of age. 68 From 5 to 10 years of age. 186 From 10 to 15 years of age. 275 From 15 to 20 years of age. 239 From 20 to 25 years of age. 172 From 25 to 30 years of age. 7 5 From 30 to 35 years of age. 1,055 If