The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 1915. INOCULATION FOR TYPHOID.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 25, 30 January 1915, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 1915. INOCULATION FOR TYPHOID.

The refusal of a number of troopers who had volunteered for service at the front to submit themselves to the regulations ordering inoculation against typhoid fever, is certainly an extraordinary occurrence, and one would suppose that men who stuck at anything like this would be better out of the way. There has been some discussion on the question, and as is usual on such occasions, apologists have risen up with frightful stories of the extreme danger of inoculating people against typhoid. The world is quite used to that sort of person and is more than familiar with the anti-vaccina-tionist type who, generally without any substantial facts to go upon and with no medical knowledge whatever, starts a propaganda against a scientific boon to mankind. Colonel J. 11. Finely, Director of Medical Services, has given some facts and figures to the Wellington Press which are particularly interesting in this connection. He states that in the South African war the British had 57,684 cases of typhoid ; of these 19,-154 were invalided and 8022, or 13.9 per cent., died. The deaths from typhoid exceeded the total number of men killed in action. About 93 per cent, of the British garrison in' India have been inoculated during the last few years. The death-rate from Typhoid which varied from 300 to 600 annually, was last year only 20. In, oculation was made compulsory in the American Army in 1911. In 1913 there were only three cases of typhoid and no deaths in an army of 90,000 men.' A special Anti-Typhoid Committee was appointed by the British Army Council in 1901, to investigate fully on immunisation-against typhoid. The report was not completed until 1912. The histories of 19,314 soldiers were, taken; of this number 10,378 were inoculated and 8936 were not. The number of eases amongst the inoculated was 5.39 per thousand, and amongst the non-inoculated 30.4 per thousand.' After 1909 no further statistics were i taken, because by that time the value of inoculation was so evident, not only, to the military authorities, but to the soldiers themselves, and increasing numbers presented themselves for inoculation. Tu some units the men volunteered to be inoculated. It was found on reckoning up the value of the inoculation in 1912 that the result worked out—one case of typhoid, gen-' erally mild, in inoculated men, and 5.6 cases among non-inoculated men. That is, typhoid fever was about six times as common in the non-inoculated as inj the inoculated. Tt has been proved, that the best site for the inoculation is in the breast region, below the .centre of the collarbone. In nine case? out of ten the symptoms of inoculation are trivial, and the tenth cases are

generally well in from 18 to 18 hours. Dr. Purdy knows what he is talking about, and his words should carry weight.