Final report of the Medical Officer of Health on the outbreak of small-pox.

  • Islington (London, England). Metropolitan Borough.
Date:
[1903]
Catalogue details

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

Credit: Final report of the Medical Officer of Health on the outbreak of small-pox. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    2 The meaning of these figures is so plain, teaching, as they do, so strong a lesson as to the value of vaccination as a safeguard against Small Pox resulting fatally, that I will not insult your common sense by commenting on them. Ages of the Attacked.—Among all the cases 46 were under ten years of age, of whom 17, or 37.0 per cent. died; 54 were between 10 and 20 years of age, of whom 11, or 20.4 per cent. died ; and 217 of whom 33 or 15.2 per cent. died, were above the latter age. Ages of the vaccinated.—10 were under ten years old, and of these none died. 38 were between ten and twenty years old, of whom 3, or 7.89 per cent. died; andwin 188 were above the latter age, and of these 26, or 13.83 per cent. died. Ages of the unvaccinated.—36 were under ten years old and of them 17, or 47.22 per cent. died; 15 were between ten and twenty years old, of whom 8, or 53.33 per cent. die.; and 14 were over the la..tter age, and of these 5, or 35.71 per cent. died. Ages of those whose state as to vaccination was unknown.—No cases occurred among per sons under ten years old. One was between ten and twenty years old, and he did not die; and 15 were over the latter age, of whom 2, or 13.33 per cent. died. It will be noticed that, whereas no child under ten years old, who had been vaccinated, died, yet 17 out of 36 children at the same age period who had not been so protected died. It will also be recollected that the strong claim put forward on behalf of vaccination is, that it is a great prevention of infection for seven years, and that it is almost a certain security against death. These figures bear out these claims. Vaccinations.—I have been unable to ascertain with any degree of accuracy, the actual number of persons who were vaccinated during the epidemic, but undoubtedly they were very numerous. I have, however, obtained a statement as to the fees paid to the Public Vaccinators, and Vaccination Officers during a period of seven years, which throws considerable light on the question. COST OF THE EPIDEMIC. The cost to the Borough Council was ,£761 16s. 3d., in addition to which there were certain charges which had not been kept separate from the usual departmental accounts, and which included the following items: additional disinfectants for distribution, chemicals and materials used in disinfecting rooms,etc., expenses for up-keep of Shelter House and disinfecting station, travelling expenses of Medical Officer of Health and Inspectors, the cost of remov ing suspects to Shelter House and postage. The Borough Treasurer has kindly prepared the following statement: COST OF SMALL-POX OUTBREAK. £ s, d. £ s. d. Salaries— Sanitary Inspectors, for extra services 99 7 7 Clerks, for extra services 70 7 3 Engineer at Disinfecting Station, for extra services 5 0 0 Matron at Shelter House, for extra services 2 10 0 177 4 10 Wages— 269 19 6 Van Drivers and Assistants, additional 128 17 10 398 17 4 Compensation— Loss of employment 24 0 0 14 3 6 Pastries destroyed 4 9 2 Care of infant 1 10 0 44 2 8 Contacts Expenses for sheltering at Shelter House 49 6 2 Miscellaneous— 26 3 7 Fodder, &c., lor additional hired horse 16 2 4 Printing and stationery 28 3 11 Pamphlets for distribution 9 10 2 Distribution of pamphlets, bills, &c. 7 3 8 Notice boards 1 11 3 Set of instruments for vaccination 1 5 0 Miscellaneous petty cash items 2 6 4 92 £761 5 16 3 3 20th October, 1902. ARTHUR TOWERS, Borough Treasurer. The cost to the Metropolitan Asylums Board was £500,000 equal to a threepenny rate over London, so that Islington's share would be £23,857.