Vaccination after exposure to Smallpox.—­Vaccination as late as the second day after known exposure to smallpox is believed to have prevented the smallpox; vaccination the third day after exposure has rendered the disease much milder than usual, and in a case in Iowa, vaccination on the seventh or eighth day after exposure to smallpox ran a partial course and was believed to have modified the attack of smallpox, which, however, it did not wholly prevent.  A recent case in Michigan was vaccinated three days after exposure, as were also the wife, mother, and two children, both under five years of age; all vaccinated again six days after the exposure.  The health officer reported as follows:  “The results were gratifying.  During the first week of the eruption it was evidently aborting and without doubt as the result of vaccination eight days before the eruption.  A complete and fine recovery.  Certainly an aborted course, with scarcely a mark left, and not another case in the above family, whom necessity compelled to occupy the same house, the same rooms, continual contact with the contagion, scores one more big credit mark for vaccination.”

[206 Mothers’ remedies]

With what should one be Vaccinated.—­Because the potency of virus depends largely upon its being fresh, and it is so easy to obtain pure and fresh bovine virus, and because such bovine virus is efficient it is better in all cases to use only the pure and fresh bovine virus.

Where should Vaccination be Performed.—­In a room or place free from persons suffering from disease, and from dust which may convey to the scratched surface germs of any communicable disease; certainly not in or near a room where there is erysipelas or consumption, nor in the presence of one who has just come from a person sick with erysipelas, diphtheria, or scarlet fever.

By whom should one be Vaccinated.—­The operation of vaccination should be performed always by a competent and responsible physician.  To try to vaccinate one’s self or one’s family is poor economy, for it often results not only in a waste of money and of time, but in a false and dangerous feeling of security.  To trust to vaccination by nurses and midwives is equally foolish.  A well-educated and experienced physician has the skill, and the special knowledge necessary to the best judgment on all of the questions involved, without which the operation may be a failure or worse than a failure.  In work of this kind the best is the cheapest, whatever it costs.

After Vaccination.—­Let the vaccinated place alone.  Do not scratch it or otherwise transfer the virus where it is not wanted.  Protect it by a bandage, or cloth which has been boiled and ironed with a hot iron.  Try to keep the pustule unbroken, as a protection against germs of diseases and against unnecessary discomfort.  A bad sore arm may not be and probably is not true vaccination, but may be due to lack of care during and after vaccination to keep out septic germs.