§ Mr. BROMFIELDasked the First Lord of the Admiralty why Fleet Orders have been issued giving a recapitulation of the restrictions in regard to leave for officers and men proceeding to any town or district in which an outbreak of small-pox has been notified, seeing that all the officers and men in question have been vaccinated at least once, and many of them several times, since joining the service?
1254Wthe annual cost and the numbers of staff employed on services other than medical and building maintenance; the annual cost of any additional staff or services; the maximum patient accommodation; and the maximum and average number of patients in residence on any one day in the last 12 months?
Mr. DAVIDSONRestrictions in regard to leave for officers and men in districts where small-pox is prevalent are necessary in view of the fact that, although every reasonable precaution is taken to ensure the protection of every individual in the Navy against this disease by vaccination, there still must be a certain proportion unprotected, either by oversight or on the grounds of conscientious objection, to which must be added recent entries who have not yet undergone protection by vaccination. In addition, His Majesty's dockyard employés are not under the same control as naval personnel as regards vaccination, and consequently a large proportion of them are non-immune, and as naval personnel and these 1255W employés are intimately associated, infection might be carried either by a person in the early stages of small-pox or by the clothing of one who has been recently in contact with a case. It is considered that no precaution should be neglected to prevent a case of small-pox occurring in one of His Majesty's ships or establishment, as, apart from the menace to health, there is the question of the great expense incurred in isolation and destruction of clothing, bedding, etc., necessary owing to the highly-infectious nature of this disease. In addition, there is the inconvenience and expense of keeping all contacts of a case in isolation and under observation for 14 days.