SMALLPOX SCARE.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19669, 12 July 1929, Page 3

SMALLPOX SCARE.

BELATED DIAGNOSIS. AORANGI AT BYDNB¥. Oraaw oex m oommmpobdmw.) SYDNEY, June 37. Seldom baa ■© ranch coasterrt&tion been caused among a newly-arrived crowd of passengers aa waa the case with the passenger* who reached Syd- | ney by the Aorangi on Saturday last, i when it was discovered that one of the YJLJL. boys, on hi* return from a world tour, was suffering from small- ; pox. The ship bad been given a clean bill of health, and the boy had been taken ashore suffering, it was supposed i at tho time, from chicken pox. When it was announced two days later that it was a more serious and greatly to be dreaded disease, there was almost a panic in the Health Departments, State and Federal, for the danger was quickly realised. This panic was increased when someone remembered that even the Governor had shaken hands with the boy as be lay in the sick bay of the steamer. There were nearly a thousand people on €fie ship, and' many of these had already left Sydney, and they have not yet been traced. The Health Departments are now dreading a report that a case of smallpox has broken out in, say, Melbourne. It was not until after the boy had been removed to hosoital that the disease developed rapidly enough to make a diagnosis certain. Under the, terms of the regulations all the people on the i boat, and all those who nad been on the boat since it arrived in port, were "contacts," and the officials recognised that they had to more promptly to make certain that there woula be no possibiliy of the disease spreading. The co-operation of the Union Company was sought, and all the passengers still in Sydnev were ordered to report to the Health Department immediately. There were nunied telephone calls, and many expeditions in taxis, .and a few hours after the first group of passengers arrived for the purpose of being vaccinated. Quarantine Order*. Every passenger who remained in Sydney, including more than 300 who had joined the ship at Auckland, waa soon served with a yellow document, with the word "Order" standing out in relief. The context set out that the person upon whom it was served was to present himself for quarantine. Many therefore had dreams of a spoilt holiday and were greatly relieved to know that if they ■ submitted to vaccination they would be released on certain conditions which did not entail any hardship. And so it was that they all willingly bared their arms and eut>mitted. Before the first afternoon had passed 200 of ;tbe passengers had been so treated. Tie doctors were gratified at the ready response to the summons. Many jof tlie passengers were put to great inconvenience, and some of them had' to' postpone their trip to Melbourne, but they all cheerfully submitted; to.the treatment laid down in the regulations. It was necessary that every person vaccinated should report again, within twenty-four hours In fact, they will all be required to report daily to the Jjealth officer wherever they may be during the next twelve or fourteen days, until the incubation period of the disease has passed. Vaccination Required. .. Telegram* had to be sent to the authorities - in the, other State# acquainting them of.tlie development in Sydney, and giving the name* and addresses of passengers who had come, or would come, under their jurisdiction. •AA rwrwrtiarra liar* ban waraisd" -tiuA,

no matter where they be, tbsy must report to the authorities for vaccination, and if they do sot acre* to this they most go into quarantine for a period •of at least a fortnight. Although the boy was suffering from only a mild form of the disease, it wm», ■ nevertheless, highly ooetapious. It so happens that no in convenience will be caused to the Union Company, nor will the Vancouver serrioe tie interrnpted, as the Aoraagi wit doe for a complete overhaul, and the vessel will be thoroughly fumigated. TW« aeasss to be no doubt that the disaaen «u contracted in the United States, where it is said to be very prevalent in a mild epidemic form, soon as existed in Australia in 1919. XHignoaert as CMdumpox. Mr J. J. Simons, manager of the Young Australia League boys, described the diagnosis of the disease as amazing. He said that seven other boys had had a similar dise—n which had been diagnosed in Canada, the United States, Sara, snd at Auckland as chickenpox. I%e first case name under his notice at St. Pani (Minn*sota) in April last. ease was st once reported, and the sufferer was placed tinder the_ car* of a leading authority in infecticraa diseases. The case was at onee diagnosed as ehleksapoi, the symptoms of which soon disappeared. and the boy rejoined the party. In Winnipeg a week later another boy developea identical symptoms, snd was seen by a prominent Canadian medical man. who had hesitation in declaring positively that the case was not one of smallpox. The third case occurred at Begitta, and there were other cases at Vancouver, the diagnosis in each ess# being chicken pox. "The case under notice," declared Mr Simons, "developed on lines identical with the other* The boy was examined at Sara, and th# caae waa declared to be one of chick en pox. A few days later, at Auckland, the verdict wan the same, and when we entered Sydney Heads the examination showed nothing more senoos than chickenpox, the case being taken to quarantine as snch. All I can add » that no one will be mors surprised than the medical authorities who have previously dealt with this and other identical eases when thev hear that this » said to be a case of smallpox.