THE MORTALITY AMONG CHILDREN

It is often said that unvaccinated children are in special danger. That fable has been dissipated by a table given by Mr. Neville Chamberlain (who appeared quite unable to grasp the meaning of his own figures) on July 23rd, 1923. We reproduce it from the Star of July 26th, in order to incorporate the editorial comment.

 

The following table gives the number of deaths per million living from small-pox arranged in decades, and divided up according to the ages of the sufferers:

  Under 5 5-10 10-15
1861-70 638 145 56
1871-80 518 285 138
1881-90 80 33 26
1891-1900 29 10 3
1901-1910 22 7 6
1911-1920 0.57 0.32 0.11

 

It will be noted that there has been an enormous decrease in the small-pox mortality among children under 15.

At the beginning of these periods (1871) It was officially recorded that 97.5 per cent, of the whole population between the ages of two and 50 was vaccinated.

At the end of these periods (1921) only 38 per cent of the births was vaccinated.

There has admittedly been a constant decline in the number of children vaccinated.

The Editor of Truth, commenting upon the above figures on August 1st, 1923, observed:

"No doubt Dr. Garstang will be of the opinion that for calling attention to these incontrovertible facts I ought to be sent to Broadmoor. For my part I think that a man who cannot see the significance of the above figures and those referred to in Truth last week ought not to allowed to practise on the pubic as a doctor."

Dr. Garstang is a medical man who, at a recent Medical Congress, had described all anti-vaccinationists as "criminal lunatics." They can at least draw a logical deduction from figures so easily understood.

The following figures form a complete refutation of the claims for vaccination. They were given in a written answer by Lord E Percy to a Parliamentary question by Mr March, MP to the Minister of Health on July 16th 1923

Year Vaccinations per cent of births Smallpox deaths Smallpox death-rate per 100,000 population Deaths from cowpox and other effects of vaccination
1872 85 19,022 82.1  
1873 85.2 2,303 9.8  
1874 85.05 2,084 8.8  
1875 84.9 849 3.5 37
1876 86 2,408 9.9 2132
1877 86.3 4,278 17.3 39
1878 85.3 1,856 7.4 36
1879 86 536 2.1 41
1880 85.1 648 2.5 58
1881 86.6 3,098 11.9 65
1882 85.9 1,317 5.0 55
1883 85.6 957 3.6 53
1884 84.4 2,234 8.2 52
1885 84.7 2,827 10.3 45
1886 83.4 275 1.1 45
1887 82.8 506 1.9 45
1888 81.7 1,026 3.7 58
1889 79.8 23 0.1 43
1890 78 16 .0 43
1891 75.8 49 0.2 58
1892 74.5 431 1.5 59
1893 72.3 1,457 4.9 50
1894 70.04 820 2.7 56
1895 67.8 223 0.7 42
1896 66.0 541 1.7 35
1897 62.4 25 .0 26
1898 61.0 253 0.8 34
1899 66.4 174 0.5 25
1900 68.7 85 0.3 17
1901 71.4 356 1.0 22
1902 71.8 2,464 7.5 26
1903 75.4 760 2.3 28
1904 75.3 507 1.5 26
1905 75.8 116 0.4 29
1906 73.4 21 0.1 12
1907 70.9 10 .0 13
1908 63.2 12 .0 11
1909 59.8 21 0.1 8
1910 55.9 19 0.1 14
1911 52.3 23 0.1 10
1912 50.1 9 .0 7
1913 46.5 10 .0 6
1914 44.6 4 .0 11
1915 45.5 13 .0 4
1916 44.7 18 .0 9
1917 43.3 3 .0 5
1918 41.5 2 .0 7
1919 40.6 28 .1 19
1920 39.5 30 (b) .1 8
1921 38.3 5 .0 7
1922 a 27 .1  
         

a. Figures for 1922 not yet available.

b. In addition one death certified as influenza, and so classified, was regarded by the Ministry of Health as definitely ascribable to haemorrhagic smallpox.

Hadwen

[Vaccination]  [Smallpox]