SMALPOX OUTBREAK.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XL, Issue 13170, 2 September 1913, Page 4

SMALPOX OUTBREAK.

VACCLN3-TION -STATISTICS, INTERESTING VARIATIONS!

(From, our Parliamentary Reporter.) .^•v.'. WELLINGTON, this day. /.• Particulars: of the number of vacbinaJ 1 ."tidi^, 06 -; 't'he. ; . outbreak; ofr' smallipo-i * rt ** e given to, yours^coj-i-espoudent by *the' >liniistter of Public Health.. They! •«>inprise the successf ul Vaccinations, and do 'not include th_ 'extensi\*e operatiom; with^ lymph aadl lancet, m the native vii^ lages. /Aiwgether the successful inoculations total . 10,616. The detailed figures from Auckland district a**e not available, "but tt can be taken, for granted that tthete the rush to. secure protection front attwalpox was the greatest. Wellington 'a^a^wed. anxiety about the matter, 1880 'public vaccinations having been pteid for by the- State. Ghri_*A*afu_*x;h was ■**% xx>3^P e dy ««»_>t to the t*iflittff ex<ttetftt oi 57 vaccinatjjons. -AmttHg other la_ees*notedi by the Mki*lt*_* arePahiatua, where a smi__*p6;_ ease caused tl c .popuJMion to _eefc the vaccinators with' greatnunw_ntttyp;l376 vaccinations hov< ing toten.place. -Meacer had _00. FoXton 2_5. Greytown 241, Mai*ton _97, Te ( Av^amutu 678, Patea 103» H_\vera 317, devonport 327,-Feilding 133, Kimboiton 114, Ohakune 134, and T^iliape 417. Suflicient lymph has been distributed for 310,000 inoculations, but some of this is wasted through ovevdpses.

, THE FAILURES. "-"toe. Minister was askedxif he could <sajr the proportion of failures, but be •coold not give exact figures. - ' ' VOn .the avei_ge," he said, "vaccinatipii, has been very effective. The tallurea .have been mostly m ;NoSrt^ Auckland- and this may possibly be explained by the limply being leverely sliaken m transmission, and fey overheating. There hAvß^been'^w.^perceiitages at some eh> nientary sjelibols. : ;the,>expla*i*_tioh is found: ''in prior vaccination ,_uring infancy,. "Is' compulsory vaccination likely if the " disease 'd_nin_jh V 1 isk'e'd .' 'ThP "NEnister ; wp\di_ -hat- commit "liim self: ,'to l any 'opinion'*" -He pointed out th_.]t;. suchf. &n , extreme ' step could on iy; be, teiceni with the. sanction ofc .Parba-i intent, bue< he added : "I would npt hesitate to *ask for strbng measures if hete6-. •siry: He gave, a further denial of the" •rumored proposal to isolate Auckland city by declaring it an, infected atea, ! and pomted.but how. difficult the authorities- found the tsusk of. dr&wiiig a, public health Tcordon around Sydney. In North Auckland (Bay of Islands, Marsden, aiui Kaipara) there are .<-") medical practitioners m charge of the preventive measures. Some doctors have under them a number bf medical studebts, to ': assist - in '- re-vaccinating Maoris. The.. whole area is divided up and ' responaibili^r -placed directly I'pon" a medical man for systematic -work m combating.the' outbreak. The latest, reports, according to the Minister^ jure most, satisfactory. J

,/ ...(Special to Herald.) • •■'■ * - AUCKLAND, this day^ * The New Zealand \ T^erald N st?ites:; "With reluctance it must <bb asserted that the-departmental administration is as unreliable *as it is incompetent.' The dar^per'to Auckland and. the Dominion' arises much less from the character of the' -epidemic than the character of the depattmental ' "We are officially threatened with the isolation pf Auckland ' from the South, yet there .- is positively no departmental determination to isolate, , the infected Maori -plages and. the few infected European houses. A' dosen students; half a dozen uispectors, and an odd medical man ,'or two is the •extent of the department's. reinforcement to* the paltry staff engaged m fighting ,*^hat it brpclairns tp the world as smallpox. > Vigorous measures must be taken if the trade and prosperity .of the entire. Dbpiinipn - is : not to be injured,' andji'if the ' approaching exhibition ; is not, to be. ruined. The Health Department .'is* proving itself impotent to take, vigorous aotibri, and if the Government neglects. to -i^terv-ene, an indignation meeting of Audji^nd! citizens should be promptly called by. t^ie. Mayor. " . . ___ v