English vaccination and small pox statistics : with special reference to the report of the Royal Commission, and to recent small pox epidemics / by Noel A. Humphreys.
- Humphreys, Noel A.
- Date:
- [1897]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: English vaccination and small pox statistics : with special reference to the report of the Royal Commission, and to recent small pox epidemics / by Noel A. Humphreys. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![8 Zl tlmt 64,431 re'vacc,Iiated persons were enumerated, ZL inqUiry int° 352 cases of re-vaccinated peisons said to have been attacked with small pox, he only fonnd 27 cases in which small pox supervened after successful re-vacci- mndT r 7 T °f thPSe Pr°Ved fa,a1’ '9 bei'^ ^ an extremely to d ff har+ r'l l 18 needle8S t0 P°int out tbat >'t is as necessary fferent.ate between successful and unsuccessful re-vaccination as it zs between successful and unsuccessful primary vaccination ; re vacm’nat Z ^ pr°tection is conferred by unsuccessful should 4 ’ 9 °”e unsuccessful attempt at re-vaccination should not, we are told, be accepted as proof of insusceptibility. r' arr^ S . gUreS sbowed an attack rate among re-vaccinated pei sons of only o*o4 per cent., whereas the attack rate among once vaccinated persons aged above 10 years was 5-2, and among un vaccinated persons 542 per cent. In the same inquiry Ur. Barry enumerated 18,292 persons in Sheffield who had had 188a7 88PO\r°rflt0188^ °f Wll°m 23 had a Second attack in lb8/-88. These figures showed an attack rate considerably higher than among the re-vaccinated ; and the proportional mortality was also higher. Those, however, who have studied the report and evidence issued by the Commissioners, will remember that this part of Dr. Barry’s report was subjected to severe criticism, and that some doubt was thrown upon the success of his attempt to enumerate the numbers of the vaccinated, re-vaccinated and unvaccinated .in the Sheffield population. There were in Sheffield at the time of this epidemic 830 troops of all ranks, all of whom should, m accordance with regulations, have been re-vaccinated, twelve men however, or r4 per cent, of the total strength, were attacked with small pox, and of these one died ; it was, however, prove to the satisfaction of the Commissioners that not one of these 12 soldiers had been successfully re-vaccinated, and that in fact although the soldiers mingled freely in the town during the epidemic not a single successfully re-vaccinated soldier was attacked by small pox in Sheffield. Of the Sheffield police who, to the number of 372, were necessarily, in the course of their ordinary duties, brought into close relation with infected persons and things, only ten cases of small pox occurred. These ten policemen had been vaccinated in infancy, hut not one had been re-vaccinated. ot one of fhe 290 men and boys employed on the permanent staff o the Dost Office, who by the regulations must be re-vaccinated before engagement, contracted small pox, although many of them must have boen in contact with infection. Ihe report contains much similar information relating to the stated numbers of re-vaccinated persons attacked by small pox during the epidemics in Leicester, Warrington, and Dewsbury, and to the result of the cases. It does not appear desirable, how¬ ever, to refer to this class of statistics at greater length, as mere statements as to re-vaccination are at the best more or less unsatis¬ factory, and are obviously difficult to support by proof. It seems desirable, therefore, to depend mainly upon the statistics of small pox hospital nurses and attendants submitted to the Commission, for conclusive evidence of the value of the re-vaccination of adults as a protection from small pox. Dr. Gray ton stated that 366 persons were employed on the staff at Homerton Small Pox Hospital between 1st February, 1871, and the end of 1877. The whole of these, with one exception, were re-vaccinated on commencing duty, and this accidental exception was the only case of small pox attack among the 366 hospital attendants. Subsequent to 1877 Dr. Gayton was unable to state the precise number of the staff employed at the Homerton hospital, but was of opinion that the number was equal to that in the previous period. Among these there was again only one case of small pox, a case in which the nurse had not been re-vaccinated. In the small pox hospital ships of the Metropolitan Asylums Board, during Table YU.—Number and Proportion of Attendants, &c., who contracted Small Pox in the Metropolitan Asylums Small Pox Hospital Ships in the Twelve Years 1884-95. [“ Final Report,” p. 85.] Year. Metropolitan Asylums Board’s Small Pox Hospital Ships. Number of Attendants Employed, either Temporarily or otherwise, in the course of the Year. Of whom there contracted Small Pox during the Year. Number. Proportion. Per Cm. 1884. 2«3 4 I'4 ’85. 24.0 0 O ’86. 110 0 O ’87. 55 0 O ’88. 46 0 O ’89. 53 0 O ’90. 64 0 O ’91. 64 0 O ’92. 138 2 1 4 ’93. 32° 6 1-9 •94. 289 0 O ’95. 274 0 O the twelve years 1884-95, the hospital staff, including doctors, nurses, and servants, varied from about 50 to rather more than 300 per annum. The only cases of small pox among this large staff occurred in 1884, 1892, and 1893. In 1884 there were 4 cases](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b3055696x_0016.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
