CHICKENPOX EPIDEMIC.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15349, 9 July 1913, Page 10

CHICKENPOX EPIDEMIC.

SPREADING IN THE NORTH.

FRESH CASES REPORTED.

LITTLE DISEASE IN CITY.

MANY VACCINATED.

Tire outbreak of chickenpox of a severe nature is still spreading among the Maoris in the north. So far the disease has not made any progress in the city, and the health officer stated yesterday that, as far as was known at present, only seven Maoris near the city had been found to be suffering from the disease. In their case it had been learned that they had come in contact with natives who had como down from Whangarei.

Prix-ceding, he stated that the Department had advised everyone to be vaccinated, so as to be on the safe side. There had been a keen demand yesterday by those desiring to take such a necessary precaution against- illness. He pointed out that anyone could be vaccinated free of charge by public vaccinators, whose names would shortly be announced. Any other doctor, however, was permitted to perform the operation, and such would be officially recognised. An impression seemed to prevail that the old system of arm to arm vaccination was still in use, but this system was abolished long ago. All the calf lymph was glycerinated, and was made by the Public Health Department at Wellington. It was contained in tubes, and applied by the doctor direct from the tube to tho person desiring to be vaccinated.

With regard to five Maoris admitted to the Auckland Hospital, suffering from the epidemic, he said it had been decided to remove ''hem from the isolation wards of the hospital, and they had been placed that day in the Infectious Diseases Hospital at Point Chevalier. In addition to the .Maori patients, there were also three white people in the district hospital, a girl and a mother and child. These latter, however, were suffering from a complaint which was undoubtedly mild chickenpox, and their removal to Point Chevalier was not deemed necessary.

The health officer said that all the natives living in boardinghouses in Auckland had been vaccinated, and all those who had come into contact with patients were being kept under constant supervision. The superintendent of police (Mr. Mitchell) was co-operating with the Department, and had detailed an officer to take special charge of the contacts.

With regard to the precautions that were being taken in the north to prevent the spread of the epidemic, the health officer stated that Dr. Cawkwell and Dr. Eleanor linker had been appointed to examine and vaccinate Maoris in the infected districts. " Although," he went on, "we have seen many cases among the Maoris that were certainly chickenpox, and have seen several cases in which the patients were suffering from something more severe than chickenpox, we have not yet seen a case that we could undoubtedly call smallpox." . The Public Health Act requires the parent or custodian of every child born in New Zealand, in the case of the pwent within 12 months after the child's Dirth, and in too case of the custodian, within 12 months after becoming custodian, to cause the child to be vaccinated. Further,, it is provided that it shall be the duty of the parent or guardian of every unvaccinated pupil attending a public school to cause such pupil to be vaccinated. In every case where a child over th 3 age of 12 months and under the age of 14 years is unvaccinated, the authorities are required to give the parent, or custodian, notice requiring the parent or custodian to cause the child to be vaccinated. If the notice is not acted upon, those responsible may be called before a magistrate, and, if they cannot give a reasonable excuse, a fine not exceeding £2 may imposed These provisions of the Act, however, have not been strictly enforced of late years.

POSITION IN WHANGAREI DISTRICT

TWENTY FRESH CASES. [BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Whangarei, Tuesday. Twenty fresh cases of chickenpox were reported to-day from the native village of Kaikou, near Moengawahine, some 25 miles north-west of Whangarei. At the request of Mr. Wati Ruwhiu, the chairman of the Whangarei Maori Council, the Health Department is despatching a doctor to the scene. So serious is the spread of the disease among the Maoris that the Native Land Court sitting in the North lias been put off indefinitely, . and the Tokerau Land Board has also suspended its business. These steps, were considered necessary, as it is realised that the congregation of the natives is the chief factor in spreading the disease over a wide area. In this direction the opinion is expressed that the holding of the time-honoured tangi or hui is largely accountable for the wide range of disease. Natives travel to those functions from all over the North, live for a time .under the most crowded conditions, and then return to their homes. With such circumstances as these existing it is difficult to combat an outbreak, and a contributory fact is the marked reticence on the part of the natives to make known any cases of sickness. It appears that the Maoris as a body do not object to vaccination, but they are not, with a few exceptions, aware of the benefits derived from it.

OUTBREAK NEAR CAMBRIDGE. TWO DEATHS REPORTED. [BY telegraph.—own correspondent.] Cambridge, Tuesday. An outbreak of chickenpox among the natives is reported at Maungatautari, a settlement 10 .miles distant from here: A native named Joseph Daniells, is said to have died on Thursday, and his son on Sunday last, while a number of others are suffering from the disease. Dr. Stapley went out this afternoon, and the matter has also been reported to the Health Department. Doubtless active steps will be taken to prevent the spread of the disease to the European population. STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER. NO DEFINITE DIAGNOSIS. [BY TELEGRAM.SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.] Wellington, Tuesday. The Minister for Public Health (the Hon. R. H. Rhodes) was asked in the House* of Representatives this evening by Mr. A.M.Myers (Auckland East) whether he could specifically state the exact nature of the epidemic that has broken out amongst the natives in the Auckland district. Mr. Rhodes replied that it was quite impossible at present to state the exact nature of the epidemic. He did not think that they quite understood the exact nature of the disease that had broken out in Sydney. In Sydney they had what they called a very mild form of smallpox. There was some doubt as to whether the disease amongst the Maoris was the same as that which existed in Sydney. The Department had been able to trace a passenger who had come from Sydney, and who apparently bad been infected with the same disease as existed there. The

doctors could not yet say whether the outbreak in the North was smallpox. " I do not wish to alarm the public," the Minister added, " and I do not think that there is any cause for alarm. We are taking every possible precaution."

WHAT THE DOCTORS THINK.

SOME PUZZLING FEATURES.

Several doctors were interviewed by a Herald representative yesterday with the object of ascertaining their views as to the nature of the complaint that is prevalent among the natives in the North. For the most part, they were disinclined to express a definite opinion. There was a general concensus of opinion, however, that the Department was acting wisely in advising people to take precautions in the way of vaccination. Dr. Tresidder, of Onehunga, who has seen some of the cases ;.t Mangere, expresses the emphatic opinion that the epidemic raging among the Northern natives is severe chickenpox, or what is know as Maori-pox. The whites, he said, were not attacked by this form of chickenpox. "The disease prevalent among the Maoris at present," he continued, '"cannot, be smallpox, for the latter disease leaves a pit or mark upon the skin, whereas the patients in Auckland so far dealt with have not been marked in this way." He added that the outbreak in Sydney appeared, undoubtedly, to be smallpox, as the disease, he understood, was leaving its mark upon the skin of the patients.

Dr. Dudley, when interviewed, said:— " Patients suffering from the epidemic are now being vaccinated. If the vaccination does not take one would be driven to tho conclusion that the Maoris arc suffering from a modified form of smallpox. , This being so, one has to remember that, although it is now mild, no one at all can foretell when it will become extremely serious, and when it will attack the white people''Cases are on record in Natal," he went on, "where a somewhat similar outbreak of smallpox first attacked the, natives aid practically hit the whites untouched. Later, however, very severe cases of smallpox occurred which affected both the blacks and whites.

''One might add," lie continued, when referring to the epidemic among the Maoris, "that the diagnosis is more difficult tor this reason, that in some cases when whites came in contact with these Maoris— instance a white girl working in a store at Mangere—they developed a. fairly typical attack of chickenpox. To sum up, the lesson one ought to learn from this is that the more one has seen of typical smallpox and typical chickenpox, the more one appreciates the difficulty of forming a certain diagnosis in these cases. It, therefore, is of extreme importance in an unvaccinated community, such as we have here, that vaccination be carried out as vigorously as possible. If the disease is smallpox, one is protected, and if it turns out to be chickenpox, no harm is done."

" Experience has shown that a very mild epidemic of smallpox may appear in a community," said another medical man. " Thera are mild epidemics, in which it must be confessed that the recognition of the nature of the outbreak is sometimes only confirmed by the appearance of a genuine case of "severe and undoubted smallpox. An argument in favour of the smallpox theory in respect to the North Auckland outbreak seems to be that vaccination appears to be effective in dealing with the disease among the Maoris, whereas vaccination gives no protection against chickenpox."