3rd. Have any bad effects occurred in your experience in consequence of Vaccination? and if so, what are they?
4th. Is the practice of Vaccination increasing or decreasing in your neighbourhood? if decreasing, to what cause do you impute it?
To the 1100 circulars only 426 replies were received. Why nearly two-thirds of the members kept silent when at the outset they were converted in multitude to Vaccination, was left unexplained. The replies were thus summarised by the Board on 17th March, 1807—
The number of persons stated in such letters to have been vaccinated, is 164,381.
The number of cases in which Smallpox had followed Vaccination is 56.
The Board think it proper to remark under this head, that, in the enumeration of cases in which Smallpox has succeeded Vaccination, they have included none but those in which the subject was vaccinated by the surgeon reporting the facts.
The bad consequences which have arisen from Vaccination are—
66 cases of eruption of the skin, and
24 of inflammation of the arm, whereof
3 proved fatal.
Vaccination, in the greater number of Counties from which reports have been received, appears to be increasing: in the Metropolis it is on the decrease.
The principal reasons assigned for the decrease are—