SMALLPOX IN LONDON.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 11152, 19 December 1901, Page 3

SMALLPOX IN LONDON.

PRECAUTIONS IN NEW ZEALAND* STATEMENT BY DB. MASON. [SPECIAL TO "THB rBE3S.") WELLINGTON, December 18.' In view of a possible serioi:> outbreak of smallpax in London, and tw si>read of the drjeaded disease to the_ .nunles, the views-of the head of the Hft»'?fo' Depart* ment on the matter will ba of some interest just now. . Dr. Mason states that ive have this fact in our favour: That' for'the mosb part the vessels from Home do not moke New Zealand the'first place of call They generally call ab Hobart, are subjected to inspection by tlie health authorities there, and a further inspection, of a rigid character is made upon arrival'here. It has nob been considered necessary to •enforce quarantine either as to possible smallpox or plague casts ooming hero so long.as the inifpection is adequate. To obtain this the Deportment is working in conjunction "vvitii the shipping companies, with which a cordial understanding has been come to. The local manager 01 the' Union Company, for example, lias addressed a letter to the shipmasters in ias Company, a»kmg them to assist tho Departm&nt %■ every means in their power to the inspection of vessels and' 'passengers, and to see that cases of sickness are reported at once to the health, officer when lie goes on board t<) make the inspection. , If this request is compliesd with it will considerably facilitate the clearance.of a vessel,' and 'Dr. Mason thinks, do more to protect tlhe- colony from an outbreak of communicable diseases than any practicable system of quarantine. Uufc in addition, passengers are expected bo pla.y tiieir part, since the arrangement is aa much for their' bentiit as for that of the, shipping companies. In regard to the , plague in Australia, for instance, the proclamation gazetted some time back by the New Zealand Government in regard 'to ..quarantiiiß.piecautipns fias not been re•vok*3> bj3S "be revived at a moment's notice should ib b? considered expedient,' but it 24 hoped' to avoid the : necessity for tiiis it ships and passengers ' will comply with the simple requinajiientai 1 now asked of them. As regards the plague, local precautions have not been in I any way .relaxed. From time- to time rats caught, in various- localities are examined.

Dr. Mason considers thafc smallpox is a greater danger to this oolonv than plague, because of the unvaccinatea stale of the community. Should a case escape the sanitary cordon we should havj a- heavy .penalty to pay. There can, in his opinion, be no possible doubt aa to the efficacy of .vaccination. ' Statistics, he, says, prove ife conclusively, and , , tie colony* in his opinion, never made* greater mistake than when it introduced the "conscience clause * With respect to vaccination, the latest work on "Hygiene and Public Health , ' contains a statement "that in the Sheffield outbreak ia 1887-88, Dr. JBarry found that uavaccinated children utktar 10 years' of age are 20*.times more liable to attack than the vaccinated, ashd unvaccinatea' persons ove-c 10 are five times more liable, and in mV vaccinated children under 10 tiw attack J*! 22 .times more likely to be fatal than anu.i..' the vaccinated, while in unvaccinated |*.%« eons over 10 the risk of an attack proving fatal is 11 times as great. Therefore, during the smallpox prevalence the. unyaccinated child under 10 is 40 times.- more liable -to. die tlitm the vaccinated one, and the unvaccinatied person over 10 is 55 times morei likely to die than the vaccmajed one." The standing objection Ito h'dmanised lymph, has been removed.. Only pure calf lymph ■is used, and there is do *«?xeus». for a vaccinator ' using ' anything else, '■ beamed the' Glovernment will tupply calf lymph free of ■ charge. Itihas only to be,applied for; in fact, it is now made an offence against iha Jaw to vaccinate with anything else.