Dr. Page's report to the Local Government Board on an inquiry into the circumstances of an outbreak of small-pox in St. Joseph's Certified Industrial School for Roman Catholic Girls, Manchester / [David Page].

  • Page, David, M.D.
Date:
1888
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dr. Page's report to the Local Government Board on an inquiry into the circumstances of an outbreak of small-pox in St. Joseph's Certified Industrial School for Roman Catholic Girls, Manchester / [David Page]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    9/10 (page 9)
    4. Provision of a probationary ward or small sanatorium detached from the main building in which cases of illness suspected to be of infectious character could be isolated. Mr. Eichardson promised that my suggestions should receive the careful attention of the committee. The lesson taught by this outbreak is of twofold application :— In the first instance it demonstrates the result of having no medical officer charged with the duty of supervising the health conditions of an institution, and of the neglect of rules which apparently from long immunity from infection in the school had been allowed to fall into abeyance. And secondly, it repeats the long known experience as to the infectious¬ ness of the most trivial cases of small-pox, and the consequences of ignoring this experience. Marson writing on small-pox says in regard to the infectious nature of the disease: “ Most likely it is communicable from the moment when the “ initiatory fever begins. It may be given by the breath of the patient “ before the eruption has appeared on the surface of the body,” and further, as regards the relation of the infecting source to the resulting disease, “ a “ mild case may, and often does, give rise to a severe one, and, on the “ contrary, a severe case may produce a mild one.”f David Page. October 9th, 1888. APPENDIX. I - Analysis of Table on page 4, showing for St. Joseph’s School, during July and August, the number of Small-pox Attacks (whatever their intensity) upon Vaccinated and [Jnvaccinated persons of different ages ; influence of the general vaccine operations of July 27th not being taken into account. [There are no children under 5 : eight re-vaccinated persons whose infantile vaccination was doubtful are not here considered. Fatal attacks are indicated by figures in brackets]. Inmates at subjoined ages. Vaccinated in Infancy. ITnvaccinated. Total. Attacked. Attacks p.c. Total. Attacked. Attacks p.c. 5-10 years - 15 0 o-o 2 0 0 10-15 „ 82 28 34*0 6 3 [1] 50 15-20 „ - 44 20 45-5 1 1 [I] 100 Over 20 „ - 7 3 42-9 1 1 CD 100 All ages *1481 Attacks 51 Deaths 0 05 O O Cn i° { Attacks 5 Deaths 3 50 30 So that, under the circumstances of this school, these 148 * persons should have had 23 more attacks, and should have experienced 44 or 45 deaths from small-pox, if the 148 had been in the same case with the ten who were unvaccinated. t Reynolds’ System of Medicine, vol. I., p. 451, 1866.