Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1882-02-01
ABOUT REVACCINATION

In a paper on vaccination and revac-
cination read recently by DIR. William b.
Bavis before the Cincinnati Medical So
ciety, he's sad
eve may very rertinently ask ourselves
the question, DO the American phyiciaus,
as a rule, introduce sufficient vaccine
virus into the arms of their patients to
fully infect their systems? | carefully
noted the number and condition of the
cicatrices of the primary vaccinations
Upon an examination Of these records l
tind that 20 per cent of them had but
one cicatrix, and that fullys 33 per cent
of them had very poor cicatrces One
hundred and twenty Of the number were
students Of the Miami Medical College Of
Cincinnati, and were from Pennsyl-
vania, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and H.
nois. The remainder were residents IF
Cincinnati
"Seventy-fve per cent of these revac-
clnations were successful, and nearly so
per cent took with all the constitutional
dlsturbances-s0 some even greater-of
primary vaccination had not been suffi-
cient to thorough y inf, ct them, and pro-
tect them from smallpox had they been
exposed to it. My observations as a
practitioner of medicine for full twenty
five years confirm the truth of the above
record, and force me to the CONCLUSION
that our American phyicians, as rule,
do not Introduce sufficient vaccine virus
into the arms of their patients. They
make but one insertion usually; and
while it is possible to make one insertion
large enough to give complete satislac-
ton, nevertheless full 80 per cent oftheir
vaccinations are SO insufficient as TO give
but little protection.
"Ihls is an astonishing statement, and
if true, should arouse the profession and
lead them to revaccinate THAR patrons at
once.
''The rule has been that after vaccin.
alton has been perormed in Infancy it
should be repeated after the establishment
of puberty. say from II to Is years Of age,
and again about middle life. A good
rule will be for every person to be revac-
cinated soon after they have grown into,
manhood aud womanhood, and then a.
least once during the prevalence Of every
epidemic to which they may be exposed.
"All that Jenner claimed for
vaccination was that when it was duly
and efficiently performed it will protect
the constitution from subsequent attacks
OF small poX as much as that disease it.
self will. | never expected it would do
more; and it will not / believe, do less
1t Is known that occasionally smallpox
attacks person who has had it q second
time. 1t is estimated that ! per cent of
those who have the disease will have re-
current smallpox. Vaccination will do
no more than an attack of smallpox will
IN protecting one belonging TO this sus-
ceptlble class. One of the students
whom | vaccinated was well pitted from
an attack OF small pox. The vaccination
took as we'll as primary one in his case.
"There is another class quite as rare
as the former, who are for the time being
quite unsusceptible to the vaccine virus,
and presumably so the smallpox. The
danger to this class is that they may never
know when the conditions upon which
their unsusceptibility depends may
ehange, and they become susceptible to
the vaccine or variolus influence Among
the students whom [ recently vaccinated
"S'o OiIS WIZ nave U6Cl fdEC1u-
ated tel times, and it has never taken
Another one said: I have been vaccin-
ated dozen times without any effect,
aad third one said, i have been vac
clnated twenty times without any result
These three gentlemen had very sore
arms on the eight aud ninth days after I
inserted the virus into them. There was
one student, however, who had deen re-
peatedly vaccinated without success,
whose system has twice refused my most
careful attempts to successfully vaccinate
him. His exemption in the future from
smallpox will largely depend upon his
being vaccinated at least once during the
presence of every epidemic of smallpox
to which he may be exposed
The only bitters and the only prepar-
alton of iron that gives complete salts