[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Giles District].

  • St. Giles (London, England). Board of Works.
Date:
1860
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: [Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Giles District]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    17/34 (page 17)
    17 In tlie British Lying-in Hospital two mothers and six children died in 1859, out out of 112 (or 130, see Note, p. 29) women delivered. Some considerations on the cause of certain of these deaths are offered in the last pages of this report. In the Streatham-street Model Houses for Families three children died of scar latina in the middle of the year. These, with one death from hydrocephalus, were all that occurred there. As far as I have been able to ascertain, these buildings had absolute immunity from smallpox in the months of the epidemic. I can only learn of one resident of the model lodging-houses of George-street who died in 1859. His name is on the books of Middlesex Hospital as dying of apoplexy. Chapter VI.— On the prevalence of Smallpox. I have chosen to consider this subject in a chapter by itself, partly on account of its importance and the direct dependence of the disease oil the want of known pre ventive measures, and partly because it would be bootless to consider the outbreak of 1859 without also tracing it to its end in the year 1860. In each of my former annual reports I have had occasion to comment on the existence of smallpox in St. Giles' district. It was recorded that in 185S the disease was becoming tnore frequent in various parts of the town, and that our own district experienced a disproportionate share of the increase over 1857. In the first three quarters of 1859 the disease manifested itself here and there without being more fatal than in the preceding twelvemonth; but in the last quar ter it became more frequent, until in December it was the exception for a week to pass without several deaths being registered from smallpox. The whole number who died in this quarter was fourteen. In January, 1860, ten deaths occurred from this disease; in February there were four, and in March none. In its earlier manifestations the disease did not appear to be much localised, but towards the end of the year 1859 it had taken firm root in the streets leading east ward from Drury-lane. If proof had been wanted that the extension of the disease was due to neglect of vaccination, it was found in the fact that all those who died of it* were unprotected by this operation. As soon, therefore, as the disease threatened to assume an epidemic character, in the middle of December, I drew up a handbill (which is copied in the Appendix) warning people of the danger, and begging them not only to see to the vaccination of their children, but to let the operation be repeated on every member of their family whose safety was not assured beyond all reasonable doubt. At the end of December, and in the first weeks of January, six thousand of these handbills were tirculated by direction of the Board. Our rectors and clergy, ministers of religion of every denomination throughout the district, district-visitors and scripture-readers, aided in their distribution with a zeal for which I most heartily thank them ; and they thus enabled me to put my warning into the hands of the poor, backed by all the authority which they had acquired in long years of charitable ministrations. Many of the principal employers of labour, also, gave me the opportunity of address ing the handbill to their men. At the same time I myself examined the children of the schools. Besides nine public schools I visited several private ones, always examining every child's arms, and noting the quality of the vaccine cicatrices. The following aggregate result was obtained :— Total Children examined, 905. Without any vaccine mark 127 Doubtful if any mark 11 Unprotected . 138 With one faint mark 41 „ one good mark ll5 Imperfectly pro- „ two faint marks 53 teCted 209 * With one exception tnore apparent than real; a woman suffered from smallpox after vac cination, and was convalescing satisfactorily when she died suddenly without appareut cause.