Small pox vaccinations for children, 1818

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Government and General Orders

Government House, Parramatta

Saturday 21^st February 1818

-----------Civil Department---------------

His Excellency the Governor having lately

received some Packets of Vaccine Matter from

Willi-

448

William A. Burke, Esq. M.D. Deputy

Inspector of Hospitals, and Superintendent

of Vaccination at Port Louis, Mauritius,

avails himself of this Mode of giving Pub-

licity to the Circumstances, in Order that

the Benefits of the System of Vaccine Ino-

culation may be disseminated through

this Colony; and trusts that on a Subject

so well known and so universally in-

teresting and beneficial to the Human

Race, it will be attended to with that

Zeal and earnestness which become

Parents and Guardians, in Order to

prevent the destructive and fatal Ra-

vages which the Small Pox has hither-

to made amongst Mankind.

Although it may be presumed

that the good Effects of the System of

Vaccine Inoculation have been suffi-

ciently felt and understood, yet with a

View to explain to those Persons who have

not received Information on the Subject,

or who may perhaps be labouring under

unfounded Prejudices, it may be necessary

to premise, that the Natural Small

Pox has been known to destroy in every

Year an immense Proportion of the whole

Population of the World and that the

inoculated Small Pox, though for the

most Part mild, yet is in many In-

stances violent, painful, loathsome

and dangerous to Life: Contrasted with

this – the Cow Pox, which is the Object

of the present Orders, when properly con-

ducted, is uniformly mild, inoffensive,

free from Pain or Danger, and at the

same

449

Same Time, an infallible Preventative of the

Small Pox.

During a long series of Years the Cow Pox,

accidentally received, has been considered a Preserva-

tive against any future Attack of the Small Pox;

many Persons in the Dairy Countries who have

had the former in their Youth, having remained

to old Age, unsusceptible of the latter. Its

Description and Effects may be collected from the

following Facts.

1. Independent of Contagion and Mortality,

the Inoculated Cow Pox is attended by no Danger.

2. It produces a Pustule only on the inocula-

ted part.

3. It occasions neither Confinement, Loss of

Time, nor Expenses.

4. It requires no other Precautions than sim-

ply such as respect that Conduct of the

Inoculation.

5. It requires no Medicine.

6. It leaves no Deformity or Disfiguration;

and

7. It excites no subsequent Disease.

From these Considerations, which the

Experience of Years has confirmed, it is pre-

sumed that no Person can conscientiously

refuse or hesitate to embrace the Opportu-

nity now providentially offered of preserv-

ing his own Family from so dreadful a

Pestilence as the Small Pox, and of contri-

buting his Part towards its total Extirpation.

In

450

In Furtherance of the Recommendation

of this great and important Discovery, an

Address, framed and recommended by the

Jennerian Society, with the Design that

it should be delivered by Clergymen at the

Baptism of Children, will forthwith be

transmitted to the respective Chaplains of

this Colony, for that laudable Purpose,

which containing as it does so very clear an

Exposition of the Benefits resulting, to the

present and all future Generations from

the Adoption of the Vaccine Inoculation,

is inserted herewith, and it is hoped will

be duly appreciated by all those Persons,

who, either as Parents, Guardians, or

Friends, can contribute to its Promotion

by their Authority or Influence.

His Excellency having been favoured

with a Communication from D. Wentworth,

Esq. Principal Surgeon on this Subject,

importing that the Vaccine Pock is now

fully established by various and repeat-

ed Experiments, with the Matter lately

received from the Isle of France, and

recommending that all the Children

in this Colony who have not hitherto been

subjected to the Inoculation for the

Cow Pock should immediately undergo

its Influence. His Excellency most

anxiously follows up this Recommend-

ation with the Expression of his earnest

Hope that it will be universally Attend-

ed to: and in as much as the Inocu-

lating several Children at once might

probably be the Means of risking the

Loss of the Vaccine Matter, it is suggest-

451

ed that it may be expedient that not more than

two or three Children should be inoculated at

each of the present Medical Stations weekly;

viz. – Sydney, Parramatta, Windsor, Liverpool,

and Newcastle; by which Means regular suc

cessions of fresh Vaccine Matter will be obtained

for the Perpetuation of its Benefits

All Parents desirous of availing them-

selves of the incalculable Benefits of Vaccina-

tion, are hereby called upon and required to

give in a Return of their Children to the

Surgeon at one or other of the foregoing Medical

Stations, with as little Delay as possible.

His Excellency, fully impressed with

the Advantages likely to result from this

Introduction of the Vaccine Matter, is anxi-

ous to express his sincere Acknowledgements

to Doctor Burke for his intelligent profess-

sional Communications on this Subject,

and trusts that what that Gentleman

has done(?), from the most disinterested

and benevolent Motives, will be duly

appreciated by all Parents and Masters

of Families throughout this Territory and

its Dependencies.

By His Excellency’s Command,

(Signed) J T Campbell

Secretary

______________________

An Address

To be presented by Clergymen at the Baptism

Of Children. -

To fathers and Mothers, You

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You who are Parents must feel your-

selves not less bound by Religion, than

prompted by Affection, to guard your Child

from every impending evil, and especially

from infectious Diseases endangering its

Life. No human malady can give

more serious cause of alarm than the

Small Pox: When taken in the natural

way – it is, as you well know, violent, pain-

ful, and often fatal. Even in those who

recover from it, the countenance is perme-

nently disfigured, or the constitution re-

ceives some irretrievable injury by loss

of sight, deafness, tedious ulcers, white

swellings, consumptions, &c. In the

Small Pox communicated by Inoculation,

there is certainly less danger; but to

insure success, the most anxious atten-

tion and nicest management are requi-

site for a length of time. Notwithstand-

ing every precaution, the inoculated small-

pox has in many cases proved fa-

tal; and it is further highly objecti-

onable, since by spreading infection,

in the neighbourhood, who have not

previously had the disease. A mild

and certain preventative of the small

pox was a few years ago providenti-

ally discovered by the Jennerian Ino-

culation of the Cow Pock. This, after the

strictest enquiry, has been approved and

recommended by the British Parliament

and is now extensively practised under

the patronage of their Majesties and the

whole Royal Family. The new Ino

culation may be safely performed at

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every season of the year, and at every period

of life, since it occasions no material

disorder, nor is it attended with any danger

whatever. At the same time, no infection

is communicable from the persons inocu-

lated, to others to whom they have inter-

course. Thus, this simple and easy pro-

cess, without endangering the community,

preserves all those who undergo it from a

most loathsome disease, and never excites in

the constitution the dreadful maladies above

mentioned, which so frequently succeed both

the Natural and Inoculated Small Pox.

That you might not remain ignorant

of so inestimable a blessing, this short state-

ment is presented to you; and as you value

the life of your infant, and the safety of your

neighbourhood, you will immediately avail

yourselves of the advantage offered to you;

for doubly poignant must be your sorrow,

if, by neglecting so to do, your child should

perish, or be materially injured by the small

pox.

(Signed) – Minister of –

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