Dr. F.W. Barry's report to the Local Government Board on a death which was alleged to have been caused by vaccination in the northern district of the Derby union / [Fred. W. Barry].

  • Barry, Frederick W. (Frederick William), 1850-1897.
Date:
1882
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dr. F.W. Barry's report to the Local Government Board on a death which was alleged to have been caused by vaccination in the northern district of the Derby union / [Fred. W. Barry]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    3/8 (page 3)
    As a matter of convenience I propose to deal with each case that was vaccinated on September 6th, in the order in which it stands in the register, and in cases where these have acted as vaccinifers, I shall give at the same time the history of their derivatives. (a.) Earratt, Florence G., aged 5 months. Vaccinated September 6th. Inspected* 13th September. Vaccination took ordinary course. No untoward result. Bladon, Fanny D., aged 5 months. Vaccinated September 13th from Harratt. Inspected 20th. After the inspection the arm became inflamed to a slight extent. This, however, was at once subdued by the application of bread poultices. No untoward results. Sims, Annie, aged 3 months. Vaccinated 13th September from Harratt. Inspected 20th. Vaccination normal. Bretnor, Grace, aged 2 months. Vaccinated 13th September from Harratt. Inspected 20th. Vaccination normal. (b.) Randle, Ellen, aged 3 months. Vaccinated 6th September. This child never came for inspection. Her parents were stated to have made a “ moonlight flit,” and no traces of them could be found. (c.) Randle, Harriet, aged 4 months. Vaccinated September 6th. Inspected 13th. The vaccination in this case was stated to have taken a normal course. (d.) Hoolc, Mary Ellen, aged 2 months. Vaccinated September 6th. This child was never inspected by the public vaccinator, having been taken ill with bronchitis immediately after the operation was performed. The mother called in Mr. Rice, M.R.C.S., and he directed her not to take the child to the station, but to go there herself and say that the operation had been successful. I must here note a serious error in the public vaccinator s register, where the child appears as having been inspected at the station on the 13th, and to have further acted as vaccinifer to cases 241 and 242, which was manifestly impossible. Such entries as these naturally render the register untrustworthy, and throw a doubt on the derivation of lymph in other cases. Eartle, Alice, aged 3 months. Vaccinated 13th September. Vaccinifer unknown, probably Watts. Inspected 20th. The mother states that the child was vaccinated in three places, only one of which took. The case went on well until two days after inspection, when the arm began to swell, and became red and hard. Eventually two blisters formed on the back of the hand, which burst after the application of poultices, and the child is now well. No lymph was taken from this child on the 20th, in fact, Mr. Legge is stated never to have touched it on that day. This case was attended professionally by Dr. Stanley Taylor, from whom I ascertained the following particulars:— He said that he first saw the child on the 22nd September at the house of a Mrs. Grleeson, whom he had been attending for some days for severe facial erysipelas. The child at that time was suffering from a slight attack of the same disease. There was no doubt that Mrs. Hartle with the child was con¬ tinually in Mrs. Grleeson’s house during her illness, she being a very near neighbour, and there was thus ample ^opportunity for transmission of the disease from Mrs. Gleeson to the child, and there can be no doubt that the child’s illness after its vaccination was due to this cause. Brown, Edith ill., aged 3 months. Vaccinated September 13th. Vaccinifer unknown, probably Watts. Inspected 20th. Vaccination normal. (e.) Watts, William, 5 months. Vaccinated 6th. Inspected* 13th September. This child is the one said to be the vaccinifer in Edith Chalkley’s case. This is an extremely healthy and strong looking boy. The mother stated that the course of vaccination was quite normal; that the areola developed was slight, and that the scabs dropped off about the 28th day. There are at the present time, three well marked scars. The mother further said that neither she nor her husband had ever suffered from ill health, and that she had had twelve children, of whom nine are living. She also told me that the vesicles in this case were very plump, and Mr. Legge obtained a large supply of lymph from them. Swan, Henry, aged 3 months. Vaccinated 13th of September from Watts. Inspected* 20th. Vaccination perfectly normal. Lajpworth, Sarah Ellen, aged 3 months. Vaccinated 20th September from Swan. Inspected 27th. Vaccination normal. R 449L Wt. 15672. A 2