§ 43. Rear-Admiral BEAMISHasked the Minister of Health whether the prevalence in London of small-pox has abated of late; and can he compare London and other parts of the country in regard to this disease?
§ Mr. GREENWOODThe weekly notifications of small-pox in London have been at about the same level for the last three months; they are, however, considerably lower now than in the corresponding period of last year. Relatively to the population, the incidence of small-pox has recently been higher in London than in England and Wales as a whole.
§ 44. Rear-Admiral BEAMISHasked the Minister of Health whether in recent outbreaks of small-pox in London the cases were found to have been vaccinated previously; and can he give figures?
§ Mr. GREENWOODThe large majority of the cases of small-pox in recent London outbreaks were persons in whom no evidence was found of vaccination prior to infection. Of the remainder, some were vaccinated during the incubation period of small-pox but too late to prevent the occurrence of that disease, and others had been vaccinated only in infancy. The latter were almost entirely adults, and included no person under the age of 11 years.
I am sending the hon. and gallant Member copies of some tables contained in the Annual Reports of the Metropolitan Asylums Board showing for 1928 and 1929 the proportions of cases vaccinated and unvaccinated, analysed in age groups. The corresponding figures for 1930 are not yet available.
§ Rear-Admiral BEAMISHIs it the policy of the right hon. Gentleman's Department to advocate vaccination as a preventive of this disease?