The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-02-15

Vaccination and RCVatcination.
yyrE1tSVixG Ard VALUABLE
STATISTICS.
COMPULSORY VACCINATION.

,., ia- Practical and statistical proof Of the
-..,..,,;yr powers OF vaccination and rcvac-
L5rq,ilr. dc>crvcd}y attracted public attcn-
.'r AS,hiS is subject which ut this par
,,,tar i.nr,urc ought 10 be Kept before he
.,.-,gn ,or The common good, il will not De
.,i>, io present little more evidence i'll the
.src direction derived from recent eNpc-
.ir0rc. r,
ry. Grjcyc. superintendent Of the Hamp-
stead hospital. London. in Tlli>h more than
SIX THOUSAND CASES OF s>A.L-rox AND
yAEIoLoID
wore treated during the recent great cpldc-
mic. which DESTROYED 5000 lives in that city.
,,g,s> that among patients exhibiting no
,trirL., of rrryi0llS vaccination the morality
,-sIIo ut.r cent, or more Hi0r onc-h0lf
e.; ;hoS" attacked. while among those show
jn., evidence Of vaccination the death rate
We, litN. or about cac-ninth. The NOR
iqi!ly in both catcgoIr> Of eases was dcc-
Gru,v hi.h~r than usual. fact readily ac-
r,uut,t TOR hy the uul;>lialiy severe form OF
L." disease.
Il j. worthy Of special note that the pro-
portion OF deaths among the vaccnatcd was
i,,i:id 10 bc in the inrcrSc ratio 10 he n,sln-
Ter Of rGccinc scars. Among patients
>howing only one mark the mortality was l.
per cent; hro marks, IL; three marks, 10 !;
fear marks. s : tire AMI more marks, + per
cont. emitting Fractions. These figures are
substantially in accord with those furnished
iV the experience OF other English hos
uita!S. and are wen deserving the attention
ut mrGicll mon.
ri Emnll-poX after rCrdCCindf,On Or.
Gtjcvc has not seen much, owing, as he be-
ll"yc>, TO the rarity Of its occurrence. ont Of
Pc SIC hor$0rG 0ad odd cases, in only Nsrcc
,""h Gny sGt'%taciWy prO0f Of recGccind.
f,sa, Dr. diSt"rercd. Many of the patients
,,ji. at their admission, tlat they had been
4. .,Hcr!MItcd; but on further invest igation
q i: u = found that while the operation wa,
Performed no after effects were produced,
Size operation having been, in fact. unsuc-
;.-,i@I. "bur nurses and servants" remarks
Ng. 'iIjnY". in constant and close attend
.lt." ~ thc smallpox patients. when pro-
j..'"! rs r,Tatcn:di0n 90 not take the dis
'-,.. apG III this rr.pcct the experience nj the
ii.n.-'r:l Hospital cui;lridcs with that of
t:r older institution y; llighgitc.' q wSn
y ",Ia lm>,3le 10 bring home 10 the minds
aud belief ct the general public my couvic-
IT," r@Imdn% rcyaccinaton So namely, that
ui>a
SURE PROTECTION AGAINST ShALL-rox."
ln ln,lrr this protection, rrvacciuation,
producing some local action, mast have been
,.rnru"i Alter the individual bad reached
hi ii.t'rI!tu year.
,n ihi> side Of The At'#nri" The largest ana
most lriniu Kpegjcncc ila> fallen to the lot
o:t:'n c'y Of Philadelphia, in whicil the cpl
q u,ly destroyed from lirSt TO last about four
l&oI>JEG live. The full history Of this ep-
Ggu.c las not yet brcu officially given to Tie
"nIlI. tut the Iacl- relating to the first
l- ,t il. Il, ia
lar lei ori Of tic Board oi Health of the city
Ha& port of l'i,iI,tIr!phi;; for the year 1871,
aad IN The report OF the Municipal, Hospital
i's ji.c r;llnt year. tpl" the close of that year
There had occurred S.li4 cases OF smallpox
and Naliol"Id. and .>i3 deaths; and 81 of
;arsc ciI.cs had been treated in the hospital
referred 10, ut which cases alone any full and
satisfactory statistics are given. 1t appears
tGu3l Inc report OF Dr.. WcciI. the physician
III charge OF this hospital, that the percent
age d! deaths among the patients who had
Iri t"cl vicrinatcd was G5.l2 (redriy t,ro-
t"ftS # all 0.tdCtCI}, while among those
VINO had been vaccnnrd it was 1G--about
'f,-Shrth-ur less tiian onc-tuurth OF the rate
anOH~ the former class. In both classes,
however. we remark. rs in the LoMd IN hos
iatj, an unusually high mortality, due nain-
~ TO The extreme Nltulcnce OF the epidemic.
pr. WEIGHS STATISTICS,
Ike those Of DR.. Gricyc. prove hat tie more
perfect the vaccination the less the mortality.
hr. Nrirh judged Of this not by the Number
g.. marks (thc general practice in this coun-
try having hecn TO vaccinate only in one
p.'c"}. bat hy their more or less perfect
t"jra't"r :; ant he states tiHt where the
h.rk Of vaccination in infancy was good the
dt's!I-rat" w,'s H3j per cent; where it was
.fHtr. 1875: where ii was fVOr, ..22.59.
E!f this different ratio OF mortality among
tAr.c attacked tells bu, Il small part Of the
story - 20 the relative safety OF the vacc-
hi*d and the uivaccimtcd, for it must be
rccnII"cted that while the great majority of
those who have cen we'll vac,.naied escape
tie rontl~ion altogether, even under circum-
Stances ofdlrcct exposure, the great majority
"i t!r uHyaCciuated contract the di. case as
soon as they are exposed to it, especially
When It Is prevailing as an epidemic. So
l!rtt vaccination at The same time vastly
dinini,hc> !hc liability to the disease, and
greatly lessons its fatality to the small pro-
portion who may happen 10 be attacked.
FIFTEEN HUNDRED LIVES LOST BY NEGLECT.
After reviewing the figures furnished b.
h> oWn hospital, and those reported for the
rity at large, Nr. Wclch remarks: Zone
Fact ihat we are able TO demonstrate is that
I,Joo lives (tli lost within few short
MAn'h>) might have hcen spared in Pbil;ldel
ltIt alone il vaccination had been tho
fa""i!iy performed in infancy. Yes, / 800
H'.>. | assert il boldly and proudly
L".'lIy, because / know it is true: proudly.
h',r'u7c il shows what medical science can TO
=" lhe preservation Of human le'
A> 1t regards rcpaccin0tton the testimony
"t ~. Wcirh is not less striking. "By care
isHy searching the record over l am unable
- hnd oct Of the ,327 yariolous cases more
l1aa fourteen which have been, rs they be-
h'Fe' successfully reyaccinated" excluding
eases III which the operation was performed
'''' t':R'i seven days prior to the appearance
~ ''Ir eruption, because the vaccination was
'"ri! 700 !dtc 10 prevent or modify the dis
'Nr already cnnliactcdl. On careful analysis
~ tAr>c fourteen casts, DR.. Wclch comes 10
wv conclusion That not more than SIR were
""'irN''""itcd instances OF the varioolis dis |
'-'>' ioA"wng successful rcvacciuation, and
""'S ,"D cluilncd 10 have been recently re-
'"If"Hicd bctOre exposure TO the disease.
~ INC whole fourteen c1ses, but one proved
fatal.
~ = Il Tact not little remarkable that eX-
"'tS Tue same number Of patients Qourteen)
"f'au'!iI'tcd suffering with 4 second attack
y ""'"'-por or cartotota, and that Of this
hCtn1cr ttr0 dted.
DANGEROUS CLASS or PEOPLE.
ltic report Of the Board of Health, after
i'''FflhG TO the earnest efforts made to in
u''ce tfic citizens to adopt the neediui mea-
sNres Of protection, add that at is to he re-
SIe''ca THAT large portion of the people,