§ Mr. Viantasked the Secretary of State for Scotland in how many cases in the recent vaccination campaign in the Methil district was vaccination carried out in several insertions in violation of the instructions issued to public vaccinators?
Mr. JohnstonThe instructions to which the hon. Member refers do not apply to Scotland. The recommendations on technique issued by the Department of Health for Scotland include scarification with three strokes one-eighth of an inch apart, but these recommendations are not legally binding. It is not known in how many cases this recommendation was carried out by doctors.
§ Mr. Viantasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many deaths have occurred during the recent smallpox outbreaks from vaccination and with vaccination as a contributory cause, respectively?
Mr. JohnstonAccording to the information at present available there have been nine deaths in Scotland following vaccination during the recent outbreaks of smallpox, when about a million vaccinations were performed. Seven of these were registered as due to encephalitis (two in Glasgow, three in Edinburgh and two in Fife), one in Glasgow due to erythema and one in Lanarkshire due to toxaemia. In addition there was one death in Glasgow due to measles, vaccination being stated to be a contributory cause.