HC Deb 19 May 1944 vol 400 cc440-1W
Mr. Viant

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many cases of smallpox occurred in Gibraltar in February and March; and whether any were vaccinated and re-vaccinated persons.

Colonel Stanley

Twenty-three cases of smallpox occurred in Gibraltar in February and March. Of these six had never been vaccinated; eight adults had been vaccinated in infancy only; three had been vaccinated between two and four years before the outbreak; six were recorded as having been re-vaccinated from one to three years before acquiring the disease, but accurate information as to where re-vaccination was carried out, and whether it was successful or not, is not available.

There were seven deaths. Of these, three were persons who had never been vaccinated; four had been vaccinated, two of them in infancy and the others four and three years respectively, before acquiring the disease. Of the six cases who had never been vaccinated, three died; one has survived, but spent three months in hospital and is still suffering from the effects of the disease, while the remaining two, who were re-vaccinated six and seven days respectively before developing the disease, both recovered. The Governor states that not a single case occurred in Gibraltar after full protection through vaccination had been given.

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