The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-04-19
HEALTH BOARD VIEWS
| ON VACCINATION
Retention of Present Laws is
Urged-Large Deaihrate Was
Reported For March

The bulletin of the state board of
health issued for the month of March
shows that 1852 deaths occurred, this
being 1875 more than in February, fiji
ty more than in March 1910, and 1873
more than the average for the month
of March for the five years preceding.
Measles leads in the matter of in
fictitious diseases, as 785 cases were
reported from siXty-fOur towns while
East Windsor reports ''a good many"
There were 437 cases of scarlet fever
in sixty-three towns, four cases of GER
ebro-spinal fever; % cases of typhoid
fever and 1852 Of consumption. Bridge
ports death rate was ISL, Hartford S
1872 and New Ravens 20.3. The
number of births during the month of
February was 2,164 and the number
of marriages was 1876. The largest
number of deaths from any one dis
ease was 305 from pneumonia, heart
disease coming second with 1874.
Secretary Joseph H. Townsend
writes as follows regarding the mat
ter of vaccinations
There is before the Legislature this
year the usual bill calling for the re-
peal of the law which permits the
vaccination of school children. Ae
the hearing before the committee, the
Observation-Disclosures presented the
same argum entS as at former hear
ings on the subject, namely, that vac
cination does not prevent smallpox,
that it causes other diseases, and that
better results in prevention could be
obtained by quarantine and disinfec-
ton.
1t seems hardly possible that one
can read the history of smallpox be-
fore the days of vaccinat ton and doubt
that our present freedom from the
disease is the result of vaccination.
1t is not necessary, however, to go
back 100 years to learn it's beneficial
off In Dnrfn = h. ID Il,
ippine Islands millions of people have
been vaccinated since the American
occupation, with the result that there
are now few deaths in those islands
from small poX where formerly there
were thousands.
The charge that vaccination ever
causes syphilis, tuberculosis or other
diseases is without foundation, with
the exception that a vaccination is
open to the same avenues of infection
as there may be in the simplest op-
Grafton or injury that produces an
collect statistics of all the accidental
infections that have followed the am
putation of a corn from the foot, they
would probably exceed the accidents
resulting from vaccination, still no
one hesitates to relieve himself of an
aching corn. Quarantine and disin-
lection have not stamped out other
diseases as scarlet fever and diphthe-
ria where 1t is used, and they will not
control smallpox. There has not
been a case of smallpox in Connecti-
cut since 1908, although nearly 5000
cases were reported during January
and February of the present year,
mostly in the southern and western
states, where vaccination is more or
less neglected. Connecticut's immun-
ity from the disease is due to the fact
that we are a weli-vaccinated people
Our emiSrant population from across
the Atlantic are Vaccinated in their
own country or on shipboard, and our
native population are most of them
vaccinated once at least during their
school days.
Every safeguard has been thrown
about the manufacture of the vac
cine virus now produced. Since 1902
all vaccine farms have been operat-
ed under license from the United
States public health service, and the
purity of the product assured by the
repeated examinations of virus pur-
chased in the open market all over
the country.