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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    Indirect com- pulsion. Direct compulsion by fine, &c. Facilities for dif- fusion of vaccina- tion. Rewards to vac cinators. Voluntary system. Results. lowing countries we have not yet received information : Holland, Naples, States of the Church, Parma, Tuscany, Spain, Portugal, Russia, and Turkey. With regard to the kingdoms contained in the first category, we may state that, in most of them, with or without the aid of laws rendering the omission of vaccination penal, the performance of that operation is made essential to the enjoyment of so many municipal and other advantages, that the general dif- fusion of it is pretty certainly attained. In Austria, Bavaria, France, Prussia, Sardinia, Lubeck, Frankfort, and Hamburg, the production of a certificate of successful vaccination is an indispensable preliminary to admission to publie schools, and in many instances to private s.ohoQ.!«s. In Austria, Frankfort, Sar- dinia, Belgium, and Lubeck, no relief is given from, public funds in case of poverty; there is no admission to almshouses or orphan asylums, without a similar certificate. In Frankfort, proof of vaccination is an indispensable con- dition of citizenship : nor is any person allowed to take a servant or apprentice who has not been properly vaccinated. T lie same rule, so far as apprenticeship is concerned, applies to Bavaria; in which country, as well as in Prussia, even the rite of matrimony is withheld until the proper certificates or other evidence of vaccination have been produced. In the kingdoms last named (Prussia and Bavaria), direct compulsion by fine is employed in addition to these means ; the fine in Bavaria augmenting annually until the law is complied with. In Austria there is no fine, but if it be known to the police that a person is unvaccinated, they have authority to take him forthwith and see that the operation is performed. Two countries only, of those from which we have received information, appear to rely wholly on the system of fine, and do not employ any of those indirect measures which we have enumerated. In Hanover, the punishment is fine or imprisonment. In Sweden, a person who refuses to comply is taken before the magistrate and reprimanded in the first instance ; he is afterwards fined, if he continues to disobey, and the fine is increased until obedience is obtained. It is right, however, to state, that in both these countries, as well as in Austria, Bavaria, and the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, great facilities for vaccination are afforded to the population by the appointment of district vac- cinators (paid generally by the State), whose duty it is to vaccinate at appointed times and at convenient stations, or even from house to house. In France and Belgium, rewards (prizes, and gold and silver medals,) are given to those vaccinators who have distinguished themselves by zeal in the discharge of their functions. In Great Britain and the United States of America, vaccination (except for those who enter the military and naval services, and the like,) is entirely voluntary ; nor are any inducements held out to medical men to encourage them to exertion. The results of these opposite modes of proceeding will be seen in the follow- ing Tables :— (A.)—TABLE showing the Mortality in various Places in England, Scotland, and Ireland, from Small-Pox, as compared with the Total Mortality, for 10 Years, ending 1850 or 1851. London - Birmingham Leeds Paisley - Edinburgh Liverpool Dundee - Perth Greenock Glasgow Dublin - Cork Galway - Limerick Connaught f All Ireland J England and 10 years ending 1841 Wales (eight years) Deaths from Small-Pox. 16* per 16-6 17*5 18- 19*4 21- 24*2 25- 34*6 36‘ 25-66 39*5 35- 41- 60* 49* 219 Deaths from all Causes. 1,000 99 99 99 9* 9} 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99