A summary of statistics relating to vaccination and smallpox : as observed in the cases admitted to the City of Glasgow Smallpox Hospital, Belvidere, between 10th April, 1900, and 30th June, 1901 / by R.S. Thomson and Robert Fullarton.

  • Thomson, R. Stevenson.
Date:
1901-1902
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: A summary of statistics relating to vaccination and smallpox : as observed in the cases admitted to the City of Glasgow Smallpox Hospital, Belvidere, between 10th April, 1900, and 30th June, 1901 / by R.S. Thomson and Robert Fullarton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    TABLE SHOWING THE SAME FIGURES REDUCED TO 1'ERCENTAGES OF THE TOTAL CASES IN EACH CLASS. Area of Scars Discrete. Confluent and Deaths in sq. in. Haimorrhagic Under -25 - - - 72-5 27-5 19-4 •25— '5 79 21 13 •5—i 86-8 I3-2 57 1 and over §9-3 IO 7 16 Formerly, vaccinal scars were classed as very good, good, indifferent, bad, and very bad, and the older statistics dealing with vaccination employ this or a similar classification, which embodies not only the size of the vaccinal scars, but their characters as well. The objection to this classification is obviously that it leaves too much to be determined by the personal equation of the observer, and consequently it became necessary in the pre- paration of detailed statistics to employ accurate methods of measurement. A number of years ago the Metropolitan Asylums' Board introduced a method which admits of the ready comparison of scars presenting different forms and sizes. According to this method each scar is carefully measured, and the total combined vaccinal scar area is expressed in inches and tenths of an inch. In the above table the cases are divided according as their total scar area measured less than a quarter of a square inch, from quarter to half a square inch, from half to one square inch, and one square inch or over. The severity of attack is indicated by the terms discrete or confluent and hsemorrhagic. A glance at the table will show that the percentage of discrete cases is directly as the scar area, there being about 17 per cent, more discrete cases where the scar area measured over one inch, than where it measured less than a quarter of a square inch. A similar com- parative immunity will be noticed if we glance at the percentages of the severer cases, for while persons possessing a scar area of less than one quarter of a square inch presented 27^5 per cent, those with a scar area of over one square inch presented only 10 per cent, of the more severe forms of the disease. The case mortality is even more striking, for while there were 19*4 per cent, of deaths among persons with a scar area measuring less than one quarter of a square inch, among persons with a scar area over one square inch the case-mortality was only i-6 per cent. The limits of this paper prevent a detailed discussion of the scar characters, which would involve a degree of technicality to be