§ Dr. HILLIERasked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he will state the number of cases of small-pox in the Navy reported annually from 1897 to the present time; and what are the regulations in regard to vaccination in the Navy?
§ Mr. McKENNApresented the following-statement (I.) showing the number of cases of small-pox in the Royal Navy for the years 1897–1910 inclusive:—
Year No. of Cases. 1897 … … … … 51 1898 … … … … 24 1899 … … … … 15 1900 … … … … 13 1901 … … … … 9 1902 … … … … 15 1903 … … … … 3 1904 … … … … 12 1905 … … … … 2 1906 … … … … 6 1907 … … … … 3 1908 … … … … 4 1909 … … … … Nil. 1910 … … … … 1 Also (II.) Regulation respecting vaccination in the Navy:—
All persons entering the Service are to be revaccinated; should no results follow on the first operation, a second vaccination is invariably to be performed. In the case of candidates for artificer and artisan ratings, the operation is to be deferred till they have been finally accepted for the Service. All persons who have not been re-vaccinated between their first entry into the Service and the age of eighteen shall be re-vaccinated as soon as possible, however good their primary vac- 1473W cination cicatrices may appear, or even should they present unmistakable evidence of having suffered from small-pox previous to that age. The re-vaccination is to be made with calf lymph from a recognised establishment which is carried on under proper supervision. No person shall be considered re-vaccinated who has had the operation performed with lymph taken from the arm of a re-vaccianted person, but all persons so re-vaccinated shall again be vaccinated with lymph taken from the sources specified above. A notation of the date of re-vaccination is to be made by the medical officer on each man's medical history sheet, specifying the result, whether successful or otherwise, and such cases are only to be considered successful in which either vesicles, normal or modified, or papules surrounded by areolæ, have resulted. When the first operation is followed by no result, which should, however, be rare when it has been carefully performed, vaccination should be repeated in fourteen days from the first attempt. The medical officer, as soon as convenient after he joins a ship, will satisfy himself by personal inspection that each officer and man has been successfully vaccinated, and when necessary re-vaccinated, and so also with regard to every officer and man who may subsequently join, except those borne for disposal or as temporary supernumeraries in home ships, and whose stay in them will be but short.