VACCINATION.

Manawatu Times, Volume X, Issue 1373, 15 December 1884, Page 2

VACCINATION.

TO THE EDITOB. Sib.— l do not know the system of vaccina- ° tion as carried out in^Sydney, nor do I know what the rules are for its proper guidance so as to successfully fulfil its object.but this I know that whatever the system is, it bas failed if we are to believe the published account's lately, A?. -'.-' It is some time since we were startled by the varied descriptions of the unlovked for appearance of smalL-pox m M<-lboxrna and so disasreable did the fact appear, to the authorities there,' that,' backed by the; opinion of their mdic'il; men, they, for ja time would not, even acknowledge . it* presence and tried by" subterfuge or ignorance to foist a new disease on the public. It startled London in '■ 1870, notwithstanding all the precHUtions taken there for its prefvention, and it wa? only fourd out when • too late where the ' weakness lay. It was not so much that vaccination wag not peri formed tbat startled them, but the way m which it was done. • The systi-m of stamp", ing put m England has proved more laborious than Was at. first supposed, for had not everything been done that tbe; limit* of compulsory vaccination' wbuld 'allow j? But thy law was and is always insufficient unless supplemented by the efforts of the individual to be affected, though it can doa great deal and-, it could also have done much "of the supplemental work and would thereby have reduced much of the opposition, by publishing statistics more generally and the results m comparison tables which would have shown its "good effects when properly done. '' Properly done." In it lies the whole gist ><f the thing. let us see what is.considered. considered properly done 'm "Bhgby those m authority there. In London there is a properly appointed staff, the Medical Department of the Local Government Board, to adm hister the administer tbe v laws relating to State medicine. From these are taken the Vaccination Inspectors: 'they visit periodically the different districts, towns, cities of Great Britian, and i-ispect the books and ca?es of the Public Vaccinators »ppoint"d to .• ac'i district, — : and these inspe tors have the'power' to "recommend to the Local Government Board; the different "P.V.'s who have ; come up to the standard or fulfilled tbe requirements of the Board, an extra ; gratuity in' money, for the proper and regular performance of his duties. To fulfil these conditions he must have been two years a certificated P. V., i.e., having obtained a certificate of compe'ency m vaccination after undergoing, an examination by- examiners m vaccination m London named by the Board, for' which a charge of £2 Ss,i9 exacted sneh certificate; to be lodged with the Board; These in-, spector3 requtra that all the cases they; may take at haphazard out of your case : book to visit at their homes must' have foUr at least, distinct cicatrices, (masks of' vaccination) on the anhs, which,' when; measured conjointly, will prese.it a Superficies of one, square inch, nothing less than •this being held a. safeguard against the contagon of. small pox. Sou thereby show; that you have, selected the quality as well as the quantity of th lymph. to ensure real i protection. ; - This was $19.. way ; . the Acfc ! meant it to be done. When 'the outbreak i of, 70 occurred they found, how far. short it ; fell of this; The. published statistics of; the Lonaon smallpox hospital, before, during, and after the outbreak mark where the real protection begins and ends,. so t that tbe governing body m London, .found; that vaccination was imperfectly, performed and m the adult.- population . re-vaccinatipn almost nil. -....-:. --.A. .".' ■:■-.: y To effectually .stamp out .the inroads of small pox from time to time jeer, vaccination of the adult population must be insisted upon. In London ;the writer vaccinated children when their parents and other members of the family were suffering frqpa con* fluent smallpox, with tbe most happy results, therehavingbeen invariably a, few modified smallpox ; pustules appearing, plainly showing that they would ;hava been.; attacked, hut as the vaccine veficles appeared the smallpox pustules disappeared, no other remedy being employed. // , : Apd .now; about New' Zealand. In., the ordinary way some time back* and not , so long, any one. applying to, the EegUtrarGeneral was selectet, Ypu : might or you might not be a medical man.,. Sometimes it was held by the local tradesman where the district was new, the application being made by. somo. intelligent shopkeeper knowing it io be a ne'e-fsary thing,' wherupori 'he was supplied .wiih forms and lymph ; later, on comes the medical man, and he is appointed, and then he has to^ wait for lymph, forms, orders, &c, appointing, unusual restrictions' at times and arbitrary ruled. And the thing i< done m a perfunctory manner, the remuneration being small, and when you. have, fulfilled the rtqairemeota of the law by vaccinating, to see the child perhaps no more, or the father will perhaps come m and tell you it had taken and be wants a certificate, Sec. Ido not say this is always done, but it is done, and this is the so-called protection, Th re is no complete inspection unless you follow, the, people to alrapat impossible places;, there is a scarcity, of lyranh, and what there is is sometimes -in* sufficient m quality, and the great desideratum, arm to arm vaccination,' is of. too rare occurrence. This is very much aggran vated m new districts, where they will come and tell you that.they have vaccinated their children from Mrs. So-and-so's child that youh*d vaccinated last week, and the worst, of it is they think this kind of vaccination jis as good as any other. But what can you say when you see cases certified to by P.V.s as being., protected ; with a small vesicle or twoonthearm. I can name a case m the provincial District of: Taianaki where vaccinai tion has been performed by a P.V., one sma'l vesicle half the sire of a pea being the resulr, and this child- is certified as being. j successfully vaccinated and protected. Heayen.savev en.save the mark.. There a c hundreds, nay thousands, such, and.^yet I saw m the papers the other day that the Government here have ■ taken ; every precaution, and^are ! fully prepared to do battle with the disease. What fal#e aeeurity? X hare examined I

betw. n ..ue and wo Ii mired o-.b.h i.f life instance poo le, and m no one i stance did I see more than two good marks, the others being indistinct, almost all having one, two, or three small cicatrioes — no case of re-vaccination amongst them. And this is protection. As to the source of the lymph, the writer gave his views to the Registrar General, at his request, some time before he went on leave, and there cannot be tt o much care exerci-ed m the selection j of lymph, and that it should be fresh, re« , newed at intervals, and that its free use ia ! desirable; tbe fault is that is too sparingly c sed. But space will not admit of my giving y views on this m fulL Iv England, I ay state, all the P.V.s are not certificated, (o they cannot get the extra gratuity. — I am, &c, G. PIOKEBING EICWAKI>3, Late Medical Officerof Health, District Medical Officer and Medical Attendant of Workhouse and Infirmaiy m the District of Kingsclero, Hants, England, and Public Vaccinator, &o.