Gloucester epidemic of small-pox, 1895-6 : report of the committee appointed by the Board of Guardians to organise and carry out the general vaccination of the city and district.

  • Gloucester (England). Board of Guardians.
Date:
[1896]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Gloucester epidemic of small-pox, 1895-6 : report of the committee appointed by the Board of Guardians to organise and carry out the general vaccination of the city and district. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    small-pox and died, he came off quite free of the disease, notwithstanding he was living in the same house with his wife up to the time she was taken to hospital. Another case was that of a man (unvaccinated) lodging in the house of one of our men, who also came off free, though living in the same house and helping to attend the one afflicted for several days.” The Proprietor of one of the largest Hotels in Gloucester, writes: ■' I have in this hotel 19 people always living here, viz.: myself, wife and three children, and a staff of 14 servants. Everyone has been re-vaccinated, and although many of the servants have their homes in infected streets I have not had a case of small-pox on the place.” Mr. A. V. Hatton, of the Northgate Brewery, writes : “ 1 have 10 employes, all married except one, and all re-vaccinated. None were attacked by small-pox. The whole of their children, excepting one daughter of a man named B., were either vaccinated or re-vaccinated. This daughter held back from re-vaccination until her sister's arm had got well: in the mean- time she took small-pox, but had it only slightly, was nursed at her own home, and the other members of the family, who bad all been re-vaccinated, escaped. Dr. Oscar Clark writes: The following cases which came under my own observation appear to me to be worth recording. S., Llandilo Street. The mother, a former servant of *, refused to be re-vaccinated, and none of her four children had been vaccinated ex- cept one which was born at Berkeley and had been vaccinated there. This child was the only person in the house that escaped, the father, who was vaccinated in childhood, having a slight attack. In a second family, the husband took the disease, but as the baby was suffering from bronchitis I thought it inexpedient to vaccinate it. The rest of the family, consisting of mother and five children, were. The baby was the only one, except the father, who took the disease. In a third case, I vaccinated all the family, five in number, except the mother, who was recovering from a severe abscess of the face. She was the only one who took small-pox. In a fourth family, the wife, not re-vaccinated, took the disease; the husband and four children, who were re-vaccinated, escaped. During the epidemic, I felt that the only chance lay in vaccination, and I laid myself out to vaccinate all I could. I was so busy that I kept no record of the numbers, but I and my Assistant spent whole days vaccinat- ing. I also sent a special circular to one of the largest Clubs in the City, for which I am Medical Officer, with the result that most of the members and their families were guided by me and were vaccinated. I am exceed- ingly glad to say that not one of the cases I have vaccinated has taken the disease, except where they were already infected (about four cases). In one case, hours of argument were thrown away upon an anti-vaccinator, who absolutely forbad his children to be vaccinated. I, however, managed to do so, with the result that when he himself subsequently took the disease, the wife and children all escaped. [The subjoined letter, which is referred to in the evidence of Dr. Oscar Clark, is an interesting illustration of one of the various ways in which members of the medical profession exercised their influence under a sense of the responsibility imposed upon them.] Loyal Phcenix Lodge of Odd-Fellows, M.U. Gloucester, February 24th, 1896. Dear Brother, Ever since the first outbreak of small-pox in the City I have been uneasy in my mind as to my responsibilities with regard to vaccination. ♦A leading anti-vaccinator.