Small pox and vaccination. Copy of letter from Dr. Edward Seaton to Viscount Palmerston, with enclosed copy of a report on the state of small pox and vaccination in England and Wales and other countries, and on compulsory vaccination.

  • Epidemiological Society of London. Smallpox and Vaccination Committee.
Date:
1853
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Small pox and vaccination. Copy of letter from Dr. Edward Seaton to Viscount Palmerston, with enclosed copy of a report on the state of small pox and vaccination in England and Wales and other countries, and on compulsory vaccination. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    clause in the proposed Bill which permits such delay on medical certificate ; but we submit that the period of three months therein specified for the certificate to remain in force is too protracted, and that it should be renewable every month. It occasionally happens that children are found to be insusceptible of the vaccine disease ; and though we have reason to believe that this is extremely rare, and much more rare than is generally supposed, it will yet render it necessary that some clause should be introduced whereby a person, having submitted to the operation a given number of times, shall be deemed to have been so far vaccinated as to be exempt from the penalties of the Act. We highly approve of the principle in the Bill which makes the registration of births the foundation of the machinery for ensuring vaccination; but we must suggest that, to render even this efficient, the registration of births should be made compulsory. We deem it desirable that the registrar of births should also be the registrar of vaccinations, and that a column should be provided in every register for that purpose. We do not perceive that any provision is made in the Act, rendering it the duty of any special officer to proceed against parties for non-compliance with its injunctions ; and we submit that without some such provision the Act will be partially inoperative. We approve of that clause of the Act which requires children born in Scotland, Ireland, and abroad to be vaccinated within a certain time after their arrival in England and Wales. We think it will be necessary to introduce some clause to meet the case of a child removed from one part of the kingdom to another, between the time of the registration of its birth and that at which its vaccination should be regis- tered. We deem it our duty to protest against the seventh clause entirely, as unjust towards the already underpaid public vaccinators; and we suggest that the wording of the first clause must be so altered as not to interfere with the rights of private practitioners. We trust that the whole subject of the remuneration of the public vaccinators will receive the earnest attention of the Legislature. Such attention is the more called for, inasmuch as, first, the payment for their present services being already inadequate, it is contemplated by the Act to impose upon them addi- tional and onerous duties; and secondly, because it is obvious that no pro- visions, however penal, can secure the desired object, unless the pecuniary remuneration be in some degree commensurate with the importance of the services demanded. We have already stated our strong conviction that proper means should be taken to ensure the inspection, at the proper period, of all who have been sub- mitted to the operation of vaccination. We are of opinion, in order to ascertain the actual progress of vaccination in all points of the country, that more frequent periodical returns to the central authorities than are at present furnished will be indispensably requisite. It is needless to add, that children who have had small-pox must be exempted from the operation of the Act. In conclusion, we have to apologise to the Council for imperfections in this Report, due to the haste with which it has necessarily been prepared. We have many facts in our possession illustrative of the efficacy of vaccination, and of the evils of the present system in this country, which we hope at some future time to lay before them; in the meanwhile, we would remind them that the suggestions we have offered are merely such as are called forth by the occasion, and do not contain any exposition of what, in our opinion, should constitute a national system of vaccination. We also intend, at no very distant period, to present a Report on the pathological questions connected with our inquiry. (signed) R. D. Grainger, Chairman. J. F. Mar son. Thomas Hunt. Waller A. Lewis, m. b. IV. B. Kesteven. C. A. Aikin. Ed,ward C. Seaton, m.d., Hon. Secretary.