VACCINATION.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 246, 17 October 1929, Page 8

VACCINATION.

SILKWORMS TREATED.

IMPRESSIVE FIGURES

Silkworms are now being vaccinated against two diseases to which they arc subject. Dr. Domeuico Cttrbonc and Signonna Elena Fortuna are the experimenters. The vaccine,-which its made from material prepared from the whole microflora of the diseased worms, is administered through the mouth, either by means of leaves immersed in the solution and then dried, or by the addition of cutaneous treatment (spraying)'.

"The number of experiments made is. as yet small," says "Nature" (London), in reporting the work, but the result/ although not entirely consistent, indicate that distinct diminution in the mortality due to these two diseases may be affected by the vaccination. The immunity- appears to bs specific."

Vaccination in general is one of our beet ■ disease preventives. Take the ease of smallpox vaccination. In 1911> California repealed its law making vaccination of school children compulsory. In 1923 it let down the bars still further. Smallpox in the State increased from 511 a year in the period 1912-10 to 2082 a year from 1917 to 1921, and to 42G3 a. year from 1.922 to 192.0, an increase of 300 per cent.

Dr. Frederick Eberson, of the University of California, commenting on this recently, cited the case of Soviet Russia, which to-day has less smallpox than the United States, in spite of the fact that in 1919, when compulsory vaccination came into effect, there were 169,000 cases, ancV Germany, where, compulsory vaccination was started in 1874, the number of smallpox deaths between 1901 and 1910 was only 380. In contrast to Germany, England and Wales, with half the population of Germany, but no compulsory vaccination, suffered a death list of 4300 during the same period.