A Royal Commission's arithmetic. A criticism of vaccination statistics and a plea for fresh figures and fair inferences / by Alexander Paul.

  • Paul, Alexander.
Date:
1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A Royal Commission's arithmetic. A criticism of vaccination statistics and a plea for fresh figures and fair inferences / by Alexander Paul. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    Of Total Children (aged 0-10) 111 of Small-pox Of Total over 10 years of Age 111 of Small-pox The Percentage of (Alleged) The The Percentage of Fatal Cases. The Percentage of Fatal Cases. Percentage of (Alleged) not Vaccinated Cases. not Vaccinated Cases. In Warrington.... Sheffield .... London Dewsbury .... Gloucester .... Leicester 21- 53 22- 03 18-71 26-02 39-66 13-76 49-23 39-24 63-68 79-45 96-31 98-16 8-05 8-98 5- 76 6- 68 12-09 2-42 6- 04 7- 86 9-07 24-21 6-91 20-56 New View of the Striking Variations. Here, so far from finding the fatality among the adults in the va;rious towns rising on the principle of less vaccination, more fatality, you find that the lowest fatality corresponds with the greatest neglect of vaccination. The details of the children's columns are remarkable for the same reason. Infant smaU-pox mortality is undoubtedly greater than adult mortality. That is proved by the table; but it fails to prove the close and increasing connection between vaccina- tion default and death which we ought to have found. Two features of this table recall the observation of the Commissioners that the variations in the age incidence of fatal cases is very striking. The variation in the Warrington and Leicester figures is certainly very striking, but not in the sense the Commissioners were led to suggest from an exclusive study of their proportions table. The striking thing is that the fatality should be so much lower in the infinitely worse vaccinated town. Most striking of all is the variation in the figures relating to Gloucester and to Leicester. Both these towns are shown to have almost