Show b i Daily Health S Service ce i r Vaccination Safest Method ethod l By DR MORRIS FISHBEIN V Editor Journal of the American Medical Medi l cal cat Association and of Hy By- gela the Health Magazine l In 1760 the statistics indicated that about 7 I per cent of ot each generation of mankind was being killed by small small- pox In some epidemics as many as 33 per cent of the persons affected passed away In one Scotch town out of ot every 1000 children born bom alive died of or small small- pox jox and there was an epidemic every four or five years In an epidemic that took place in Boston in 1752 S when there was a a. population of 1843 people left lert town had had smallpox previously and anti recovered and all of the remainder of ot the population lation latton except had the disease These figures are extremely striking in view of the relative freedom from smallpox of the vast majority of our people today It seems reasonable to believe that proper vaccination of all aU of the people and proper isolation and arid control of or every case of smallpox would result In stamping out this disease entirely Unfortunately there are still stUl people who sho refuse to 00 be vaccinated and there are arc still people who devote the largest part of or their lives trying to prevent other people from being vac vac- ted Vaccination against smallpox is merely the means of giving the person person per per- son the kind of immunity from disease dis ease case that results from a a. previous attack attack attack at- at tack without causing him to undergo all of the tribulations of the disease and the pock marking of ot his face associated with it In the eighteenth century the UnI unusual un Un- I usual person was the one without the scars of smallpox on his f face e but today to t day the unusual person is the one who carries such scars r P Smallpox seems scorns to the average man manto manto to be merely a disease of the skin with a severe eruption It is I 1 a disease with fever aches and pains and anti not infrequently with severe vere hemorrhages hemorrhages hemorrhages hem hem- which may cause death The figures of the United States State public health service indicate that tha about people per year develop smallpox in our country Due to th the increased scientific care given to such people there are only a few hundred deaths from these cases However diseases change in their virulence anc and there are sever outbreaks from timeto time to time In which as many as 20 pe per percent percent cent of those who are not vaccinated and who get the d disease die as a result resul of ot the att attack k Because of or the present relative Infrequency infrequency in In- frequency of or smallpox and because o of modern methods of ot scientific control there are some who think that vac cin might well ell be abandoned As long as the disease is among us however the way ay of safety is vac vac- A disregard of this measure measure meas mess ure would result in gradual increase In the number of cases an increase in virulence and numerous fatalities Perhaps the time will come com when th the whole world will be sufficiently Intel inte to take the necessary steps t to stamp out smallpox completely bu but that time time- is not yet |