The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1869-01-30
For the Register.
For the Register.
Vaccination Protection Against Small
pox.

- - 49,
tinct disease, and is governed by certain
laws as uniform in their operations as is
that of any other That it is a specific
protection against small pox the civilized
world has rested in the belief for the last
seventy years, and those communities
which have ayaled themselves of its
advantages have been comparatively free
from that much dreaded and most loath-
some of all epidemlcs.
In those eases where vaccination has
apparently failed, it has not been from
any want of powe in the vaccine principle
to protect, bat because the system was
not brought fully under its influence
This may be justly inferred from the fact
that the vast maj arity Of those who have
been yaccinatcd Go not take the disease
when exposed to it, while in those who
do it is modified just to the extent to
which they have been brought under the
prophy ylact;c-iHa aueuce of vaccination
An individual may have all the eharac-
terstie marks of u genuine VACCINE pock,
together with all the attendant constitu
tional symptoms of the disease, and yet
not be fully protected. 10 ascertain this
and to insure safety, revaccination is
advised If it takes we have the evidence
that the protection was not complete, and
rice uerso, if after fair trial il does not
There is no more reason for the opln
ion that vaccination "runs OUT, or that
its protective power ceases after a lapse
of years. than that an attack of measles
or whooping cough does not protect the
person throughout the reminder of life
from a subsequent attack, though
some are of a different opinion Leibes
says: 'The susceptibility of infection by
| the virus Of human small pox must cease
after vaccination, for the substance to
| the presence rof which this susceptibility
| is owing has been removed from the body
/ by a peculiar process Of decomposition,
:, artiticially excited, But this substance
may be again generated in the same in
dividual, that they may again become
/ liable to- contagion, and second or a
third vaccination will again remove the
peculiar substance from the system.
II has therefore become the general
practice to revaccinate at the commence
ment of each recurring epidemic, wherev-
er there is danger Of exposure to the
disease
Every one whether liable to Immediate
exposure or not should be vaccinated in
childhood, the period of life in which
the system is most susceptible to conta-
yion. From the urth to the seven h
month Of nfantile life is regarded as the
best period for vaccination. The circu-
lation being active and the opposing
forces being comparatively week, the
system yields moro thoroughly to the
vaccine influence than at any other
period Of life.
A good deal of prejudice exists in the
minds of many against transmitting g
the virus from one person to another
When properly done and with the neces
sary precautions it is just as safe and ef
tectual as if taken directly from the COW
1t is very essential that the person
from whom it is taken should be healthy
1t is also equally or even more important
that the virus, should be taken from &
genuine vaccine pox, and at the rish
time. Bad results may follow where the
virus has been taken from an apparently
healthy person, not from any preriou:
constitutional taint in the individual
| from whom it was obtained, but becasse
the vaccine infection was mixed will,
matter caused by inflammation other thar
that produced by simple vaccinations It
is therefore Of the highest importanc &C
that the virus should not only be OBJ.
tanned from healthy subject, but thai
it should be selected by an experienced
person, who SHALL have observed the de-
velopment of the disease through its va
rious stages until the virus is taken from
the pock. BY observing these precau
tions 1t may be transmitted from one te
another for years, and perhaps for gene
rations, without becoming inert or loseine
any of its prophylactic properties. Bu,
| without them We are in danger of pro p
asating from impure or worthless matter
Then vaccination is pronounced a failure
| People lose confidence init. The result
is when small pox makes it appearance
there is but little to oppose its spreading