Report on an outbreak of mild smallpox in New South Wales in 1913, and the measures taken for its control / by W.G. Armstrong, J. Burton Cleland and E.W. Ferguson.
- New South Wales. Department of Public Health
- Date:
- [1914]
Licence: In copyright
Credit: Report on an outbreak of mild smallpox in New South Wales in 1913, and the measures taken for its control / by W.G. Armstrong, J. Burton Cleland and E.W. Ferguson. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.
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![] 18 5. An extensive area of vaccination will profoundly modify attempts at variolation six weeks later, but may not absolutely prevent all reaction. 6. Variolated lymph of the third remove can produce an appearance in monkeys resembling typical vaccinia, unaccompanied by any generalised eruption. 7. It is very obvious that the size of the area variolated or vaccinated is a very important factor as regards complete protection against subsequent variolation or vaccination, or vice versa. The time factor and the degree of reaction also probably play a part. 8. The results obtained from calves, whether variolated or vaccinated, seem to be identical. Conclusions.—From the above given microbiological data, we have attempted to show that the present disease is a form of true variola. We have come to this opinion on the following grounds :— 1. Such a modified variola was what, on microbiological grounds, might have been expected to arise. 2. The disease, in some of its features, seems to be intermediate between ordinary variola and vaccinia, though so close to the former as to be in most respects indistinguish- able. 3. Bodies resembling the Cytorhyctes variolae have been seen in material from cases. 4. The appearance of sections of tissues from cases accord with those described from smallpox patients. 5. The disease is conveyable to calves by inoculation. 6. The condition thus produced behaves as does inoculated vaccinia. 7. This inoculated disease and vaccinia are mutually more or less completely protective against each other, provided that a sufficient area be inoculated. Appendix. Details op Experiments in the Conveyance of Varioloid Material to Calves. On 9th October, 1913, material was obtained from the pustules of three patients suffering from the mild form of variola then epidemic in Sydney. The material was obtained from unbroken pustules on the limbs. The pustule was broken by a sharp scalpel, and a small amount of the thick, curdy pus present in it was scraped up on the end of the scalpel and mixed in a small amount of 50 per cent, pure glycerine in water. The resulting dilution of the varioloid material probably in no instance was equal in weight to the glycerine and water solution to which it was added, though it approximated to this amount. In addition, a little pure lymph was taken up in capillary tubes and searched for parasitic bodies by means of dark field illumination and special staining methods. The details of the cases from which the material was obtained are as follows:— A. “ Female.—The rash at first appeared on 4th October ; it was now profuse on the arms, legs, and face, which showed marked pustules. B. “ E.J.W.,”Male.—The rash first appeared on 5th October, and on 9th October there was a profuse pustular rash on the arms, legs, and face. C. “A.J.C.,” Male.—The rash first appeared on 4th October, and was now similar to the two previous cases. D. In addition to the three foregoing cases from whom material was obtained on 9th October, pure lymph had been obtained in capillary tubes from a patient, “ ]V ” a week previously, and had since been stored on ice. This lymph had not been treated with glycerine. The material thus collected was kept in a cool place until next day, when on 10th October the following experimental inoculations were made :— Calf 1.—Bull calf aged eight to nine months. October 10.—The animal was inoculated with material from the four cases indicated above as follows :—The inoculation was made by scarifying small areas by means of an ordinary toothed vaccine scarifier as used for human beings. The abdomen and groins of the calf were carefully shaved. A. The right groin and the abdominal wall in front of this were scarified over two small areas, the external one being seeded with glycerinated material, and the inside area with a little pure lymph collected in a Widal pipette. B. Two smaller areas in the middle line in front of the scrotum were similarly seeded, the right with glycerinated material and the left with the pure material. C. The left groin was similarly treated to the right one, and seeded with glycerinated lymph on the outside and pure lymph on the inside. (There is some doubt as to whether the glycerinated lymph from cases “B” and “ C” were not accidentally transposed.) D. In this case a small area was scarified behind the scrotum and the pure lymph worked in after scarification. After vaccination the parts were protected by a loose gauze sling and covered on the outside by a calico wrapping. October 13.—The inoculation seemed to be taking as seen from underneath the coverings, dry, scaly scabs being noticed. October](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2136056x_0022.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
