VACCINATION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 106, 28 January 1908, Page 5

VACCINATION.

. ; ." "A DENTAL' MALFACIENT." ' ' ■ : v - AX INTERESTING PAPER. (By EDWIN COX, X.D.S. England, Presi- ' ' dent of the New. Zealand Anti-Vaccina-tion League.) . : • - ' " ■■ -■ •' ' "• Lot. us now look at vaccino-dental fyntholoßy moro directlv ■ and. immediatoly—in tho light of common elemental faot^'of histology \ and biologv. .. ,' 5 ' : >. It is suggcstivo at . least; of', professional caution that,; tho Royal Commissoncrs could ■ gain'no, reply.to the question,' "What is vaccination?" "We regret that in the course of • our lilqtury we have hot yet obtained from the exports who have favoured us'with-thoir ■• views any satisfactory'.definition of 'vaccination.' " No definition of the term appears in the Vaccination-Acts.- "Our late and much regretted colleague,'. Mr. ■ Bradlangb/' wioto tho minority: Commissioners, "wo know attached gront l importance to .this point." (Vicfo>Mmority Report, par. 168;) Obviously this inquiry had 110 reference to the technique' of vaccination, as a .surgical op'oration, whether, tbo old. lancet;,method,-.'which ;often' in-■ ▼olvecl tho cutis vera with tho epidermis, or tho' new method ,of spreading the. lymph oyer .selected and, slightly scratching, hardly incising': the epidermis underneath with a. small spcar-jwin.tcd;instrument,,; rendering it a';.quicker..' and almost painless .[operation. . ,the. origin and inwardness of vaccination; . it was tho inquiry 'of the Grocers' Company;without, tho prize of £1000,: ' '■ as to what is its living force, agent or contagium. The authoritative answer of the Royal Commisssion is that":' "It is established that lymph contains organisms"— svicti, e.g.-, "as may :be productive of erysi- ■ ; .(Sfiction_ 410.) Whoever has seen a ."fatal case of facial erysipelas will admit.'that' l J! ia t:>.is;;a' sufficiently damnatory confession.' ■ * !? , genealogies of. vaccination. are' fully - recorded; in ; Professor " Cruiksharik!s . .Jenner; a nd \ accinatiori." •; Herb it 'is sufficient to "notice one or . two of' its 'essential points./- So .far .as there has. .been the semblance of scientific basis for the claim of pro-' , phylactic virtue'in v the long pedigree of vaccine; lymphs (so-called), has,been Vowing to thmr. variolus character, and to the nssump- ; . tioii that an artificially produced'attack of spi'all-pox was less. pernicious -'than a natu- . ral attack. . * . , ■ , J-'.V--A False Assumption. ■ ■ • . A; ccntury of/'onoculation". proved' tlie fal--«!ty, of. this assumption. It so diffused the, dreaded - disease ilia t- inlß4o 11. was mado ijlegal, and punishable .with, a month's .iniprisonment. \ Vaccination deserved the same con-, demnattonit .was only; a : degree less' guilty ~'(• not ~"variola"/-it was "varioloid"; its "Lye principle-- was/ ancl - is, tlie'vini.s- of •- smallpox disaster came from all' quarters. IJencu.; the 'offer, of -tho' s Grocers Company:in .1883; hence tbopathogonic admissions of Royal C'ommisssioners; 'and hence the .reluctant but, necessary concession of. tiie ; • exemption Certificate to the,conscientious objectors.. And yet'nob even;tlie influence. and . suasiye-eloquence of Lord Lister arid his bra.vo .medical -confreres , 'could; have'"'carried, the : Yacoination Act ,of 1898,' with its. exemption c j a pse.,, but _ for the assurance of 'a new-t-in short, an lymph, free: from»!':.extraneous organisms,: bv tho . germicide virtue; of' glycerine! How. utterly this proiiiimj _ failed is ; ruthlrsslv • exposnd • by the-.; report of a : Commission. 'of ExPert!!--' en ?«ged /by.. "The'.'--Lancet". to test, the various viruses manufactured and retailed' in. England and 011 the,.Continent-as, pure -glyceriiiated. calf lymphs. .The inquirv . extended over two-years, and : included at, least; some 30 specimens. Not one of them was found, bacteriologically pur?! In some there were .thousands, in others tens of: thousands,yn others polonies,'qf "extraneous; or-' ganisms, and in /.others*/, they wore , "una»y wonder that Mr. Long,! the .President ofthe 'Local. GovernmeJit Board, should declare in the House of Commons: "It ;is impossible to guarantee lymph !<', The. Jenner Institute supplies a calf, lymphBa 'd striqtly in accordance', withjthe.jpqthods advocated, by Dr. Jfonckton .Copcnian," Medical.[Bacteriologist of' the-' Local Government Board; and the N.Z.'Pub* lie Health Department follows as far as possible,, tho: same official authority. . .What is that method? makes no secret of .it, ...It is believed by many, including a fett. medical practitioners, that, it is glyceric ted cow-pox lymph, and has no relationship with small-pox. But what docs Dr.Copeman . say it.isP—for wo may- infer-that it is'what : he, advocates and- initiate's—viz., -lymph' from tho.Tesickvof. humanised small-pox, passed■ through one or moro monkeys; then through ' on ? s'r,more..calves;,then triturated with P a. 1 certain .proportion,of glycerine, strained; microscopically, examined, arid, then tested bytho li.o'culation' of; sundry paupers! ' (Vide "Vaccination'- Inquirer," .July, 1002, arid •'•The -,'Geniiral..Trac'titionpi;".fo?.. October. 1904.)Thjs"peripatetic'compound is now called . cprpserlymph! .'from'. the fact that'.in . 1901 there was a .strain .of lymph raised in London . and for tho vacciuatjon of.'children . from corpsesof f small-pox. patierit's' in ' Glasgow! ' (V.idp:lecture by.'Dr. Copeniari, ',!The fnterrcilationship j-of Variola' , arid . '.Vaccinia. "Vaccination Inquirer," October, 1904.) ; How Is ft Possible?vAs we -turn frorii this' griicspnteVsfectricle, the question irrepres3ibly/ arises: How is "itpossible that the-inoculation of this deathly compound, which. immediately produces' moro' or less ' virulent systemic effects;' and' in • a lew hours can prostrate the'man of strength. • or .cover, tho . healthy body .of 'a, child with • masses of running. -sores of a, loathsome description," should spare and lea.vo undisturbed the delicate and marvellous process.of dontition? How is it possible . that ;va'ccination~at- whpse" door; is laid a long "rhairgesheet of skin diseases; when 'thou-iaiids, and tens:of thousands of mothers say: "Mychild never, had: a biemish until .vaecinat-:d';" admitted ;by tho Royal Commission and a long arrav. of prolessional witnesses, as the, prolific caiiso of-irritations and eruptions, primary and secondary, of intense urticaria, of prurigo and-, impetigo contagiosa,' eczema and abscesses; in short of so many cutaneous effects that Dr. Jonathan Hutchinson declares the wonder is not that vaccination should some times produce an exanthem, hut .that it should ever be without- one"— how, I say, is it possible-that this skin-pestil-enco should look at and never touch the most wonderful of dermal processes, the tormation of teeth?' Especially,—when these processes and elementary materials are in their primary most, vital stages? Or, as microscopic scientists would say, when the great conflict of opposing microbic hosts is at;its' most intense .and fateful ; height? For they bid us look within, and see on'the one hand a.countless army of synthetic*, progressive,. vitalising microbes; . and 011 the 1 other an army, Vs the sand of the sea for number, of analytic, disintegrating, debilitating, arid destroying micriibes. The vesicles and ,systomic effects. of vaccination are signs' of this destructive activity. Tho issuo of tho conflict depends upon the reserve forces from without. . If any disease-producing ..germs from without gain entrance they join the ranks of the destructives, tho sappers > and minors who draw off natural supplies and starve their enemies. If contingents from the high hills and heath fields of Naturo gain, access, they' join the synthetic hosts; they build up and fortify against diseaso. This is the critical stage,- tho destiny point in .tlirt-formation of teeth.' Assailed now' By insidious devitalising microbes, robbed of nutrition, the whole healthful process arrested,', its work unfinished and imperfect, enfeebled, branded and disfigured, the design of tho Supremo Designer can.never bo realised; thov can nover bccome.- the "thing of beauty and of everlasting joy" tho Creator intended; it only remains W them-to ropair or hido their disfigurement—to die,' to disappear. Do we attempt to describe these processes? Do wo speak of the exquisitoly sensitive pulp-organ, the central vital force, silently depositing and moulding its encircling bony wall of defence? —of the still further deposit that lays and completes tho flint-like-top-stone,' as tho otcol-plating of a battleship's ram? Mysteries, Yet ivo are all tho time humiliatinglv oonscious- that we speak of mysteries—that not one step or Dortion of these processes do

wo fully ' understand—tlieir. subtlety, their dolicaey, their intertwining and interlacing. It follows, therefore, that when wo say vaccination is a dental malfacient, that, howover overwhe.lmng the evidence, we may yet be unable to explain or even to comprehend: the process by which tho evil-' is wrought, as wo are unable to comprehend how the stunt- - ing, blunting arresting mischief of nicotine - is wrought, or how digestive maladies and . nervous debility are produced by theine. But that they are produced experience arid observation compel us to believe. The gravest ■ charge against vaccination, x as a constitutions al and as a direct malfacient, is that ,of • "vncino-syphilis." "If it he true," says M. Ric'ord, - "that- vaccination: c.in,.' transmit ■ syphilis, then vaccination is clone'for.' For who, pray, will run tho risk of heing affected I by;the great to escape tho small pox?" The ■ evidence that this "transmission'is true," ! has accumulated to overwhelming propoi'tions ;'r ther'o is a whole literature of vaccina-. , syphilis. Yet Ido hot'tliirik I can'do better than •reproduce hero a portion of tho chaptcji upon "The Disease of Diseases," in the small Work entitled "Tho Degeneracy and .Preseryation"'of'"the"Teeth," which I published sorii6' : eight-and-twenty years ago. An important Question? "Is impossible that a process lauded as a , discovery of genius; rowardod by legislators , as a national blessing, arid made compulsory as a" preservative from a most repulsive'- disease may be the vehicle for another .disease tenfold . more • virulent' ai'd deadly? Is it that when an authorised vaccinator punctures the tender skiri and inserts an ivory point tipped with . what- lie believes and often ' affirms, to be : g.ood matter,' he not only -in-troduces-'vaccine virus but syphilitic virus as well? In 1857.an eminent French physician and specialist, M. Ricord, 'when asked this qucst-ipn,: impatiently - responded: ' NOll, noil.' Six years later,' that is, in' 1862, lie so'fat - modified his opinion'as'to say: 'It.is not.imposible that ,the discaso Wns transmit-ted-with tho vaccino lymph, but in thp est'i;/matiori of factsVwhich seem to establish such transmission it is riccessary to distrust the . evidence' of our - senses;' and" then, further, 'let us admit V careful inquiry into; these ' cases;,'and let us-guard against any pre- ' determinod/notions on the suhjcct; but as to tho interpretation .offered, let it be re-' ceivod with'an amourit.of hesitation and doubt, increased by the obvious; fact that, ,-if over, the transmission of disease with vaccino , lymph is clearly demonstrated, vaccination niust bo altogether, discontinued; for in tlio ■ present-state science, wo are in possession' ■of 'no criterion which'may permit tlie conscientious practitioner to assert that tho lymph with , which lie inoculates is perfectly free from tainted blood.' . . f'Tho ye.ir following .(on - May 19, 1863) he ; proclaimed his belief in tho following words: : 'At first .I; rppoHecl the idea that syphilis cquld bo.transmitted by vaccination. The rccurrpnce of facts''.appearing "more and. moro ' cpnfirniatpry,' I accepted' the -possibility. of 'this mode' of transmissipn, 1 should say with 'reserve, and 'ereft • with ...repugnance', but-to-; clay I hesitatb' 110 more-to procjaim their re-! ality.' . .'- ■ . - -'. , "lii -186S Dr.. Ballard, now, one of, the 'Medical- Inspectors'' of the .Local . Ciovern- . ment Board, -in'.his: prize -'Essay' on Vaccina-' tioii,' after discussmg the subject at great , length', 'camp to, tho . same .conclusion,. and published the details -'of' - four series,"of vac- ' -ciiVal syphilis; but',.lie' argues,.'that yaccinav tioii'Should not. be' abandoned,.'because such case's" are" extremely' rare, aiid asserts; that '.not' onn has-been proved to have existed in. England.' ' : . ' ' ' ' "In -1871, however, before'the Vaccination. Committep-of the House of Commons, various mcdical witne'sgos 'proved' the transmission of this, disease, through vaccina-tion,-to previously healthy children : .and' Mr. Hijtchinson published the details of two se/- . nes .of .such eases; in 1873 he also gave the' details of two other cases. ' . "The possibility of vaccinal syphilis can, therefore, be no longer denied..- Many, how-, ever, maintain that it is only possible when the lymph taken from a nyphilitio infant is . accidentally mixed with blood. But in the ' secorid i series of cases detailed by Mr.- Hut- ;' chirisoii, and in .tho two' subsequent cases , '.which he also published," there was no;eyi- .' derice the lymph was; contaminated' with blood,' arid Dr. E. Ballard affirms 'that' 'it was riot necessary 'to,use red corpuscles to introduce.poisonous matter, into the.system.' 'A FalEB Feeling of Security. ' s 1 .'' : r. "But, it r may he not sucly jca-ses of vaccinal extremely rare? Mr. Hutchinson replied to the question by saving 'he feared not; all these' (the.cases iie had detailed) 'occurred to him in tho way of ordinary:practice. His' second, series were made by a public vaccinator, who had 110 idea of their existence. Other surgeons were, he feared; in the same condition, and thu3 a falsa feeling of security prevailed.'. "In the 'Medical Examiner, May 24, 1877, ■ Mr. Brundoll Carter writes* to the same effect, 'And-* expresses the opinion 'that, a • largo, proportion of the cases of- apparently irihoritefl. syphilis aro in reality, vaccinal.' "Tho frequent occurrence of these casesappearsexceedingly probable from the fact that..with■::• the . extension anil'.- .increased stringency; of' . vaccination, ' ; thero • has':n.ot only, been a iconcurrerit increase of syphilis, but.'tb'e great- ,rnajo>ity - of. its victim's .have be'en infants tender one.year. old. .* We- find from t-ho statements of the.BegLstrar-fJeneral that syphilis was twice as fatal in the five years. 1870-74,. as it was: 20 years ago,' and that, during, .'that, period 110.less' than sevenninths' of tho whole number of deaths were-of-infants not' year old." - V.''To approach a just: estimate of the in- : Mence-of.vaccination as a vehicle' of syphilis, we. must not omit to observe that those who iit'irifaricy survive'its attack; becoino sources 'of. .its. contagion. • Mr.' George . S. 1 Gibbs, F.K.S,, taking the -number .of children estimated bv Dr. i' B. W. Richardson ,to be afflicted .by the 'disease of diseases' calculates that in .addition to the deaths of over 1300 children per anm'im, ;undor one year, from syphilis, in England,'there are 6600 afflicted with disease,'who survive, and who, on being vaccinated,; furnish impure lymph for tho contamination of thousands of helpless babes. ■ These, and similar facts as loudly demand the study of the statesmen as of physicians, for they compel tho enquiry: Is it• wise' to.'.establish and maintain by law a medical-dogma,.'the truth/of which lias from the'first been suspected by some, and is now denied by a host of -sceintific authorities? Is it right to cnforce a process tho efficacy of which consists of ensuring: a vaster growth of the evil it was pledged to extirpate, and the spread of other ovils more hideous in character, and in their general results more fatal? And these results, odious and'humilia ting in the last degree, follow the use of glyceriiiated calf lymph as tenaciously as they did its predeces-' sors—in the 'arm-to-arm' and 'inoculation' periods!"