Vaccination and its relation to animal experimentation / Jay Frank Schamberg.

  • Schamberg, Jay Frank, 1870-1934.
Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Vaccination and its relation to animal experimentation / Jay Frank Schamberg. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    2. Vaccination protects against smallpox in the same manner that one attack of the smallpox protects against a second attack. Vaccination has the special advantage in that the immunity which it confers against smallpox may be renewed when it becomes impaired or exhausted. 3. Vaccination in order to confer protection must be genuine: the mere production of a sore arm is of it- self no proof that the subject has been successfully vac- cinated. The vaccination must run a definite course before a protective substance is left in the body. 4. Smallpox may develop in vaccinated persons if they have permitted years to elapse without being re- vaccinated. 5. Vaccination and revaccination universally applied are capable of exterminating smallpox as an epidemic •disease. The experience of Germany during the past thirty-five years proves this. 6. In isolated instances individuals in a generally well-vaccinated community may develop smallpox lie- cause their protection is imperfect as a result of the use of an inert virus or because of some other fault of technic. These cases, however, will never appreciably influence the prevalence of the disease in such a com- munity. 7. Smallpox was an ever-present and terrible pesti- lence in the days before vaccination. Jn most civilized centers it is to-day a relatively rare disease. This change has been effected almost exclusively by vaccina- tion. Epidemics of smallpox prevail from time to time when the spark of infection is introduced into the com- munity and a sufficient amount of unvaccinated com- bustible material exists to lead to a general conflagra- tion. In countries where vaccination is neglected, as in Persia, Asiatic Russia, etc., etc., smallpox is still a death-dealing scourge. 8. The foes of vaccination commonly refer to the in- frequency of smallpox at the present day and to the remote liability of contracting the disease. They forget that the relative security which we now enjoy is the result of vaccination. This security can be made abso- lute or it can lie largely destroyed according as vaccina- tion and revaccination are generally employed or gen- erally neglected. :). The dangers connected with vaccination have been greatly exaggerated by the opponents of this measure.