1896 Gloucester smallpox epidemic

In Britain, smallpox vaccination became compulsory in the 1850s. In Gloucester, a smallpox outbreak occurred in the mid-1870s. However, the 1890s also saw anti-vaccination beliefs. ==Cases==

President of the Local Government Board Thomas Russell stated in 1896 that, between 4 January and 25 July 1896, the number of cases of smallpox in Gloucester totalled 2,008. A large number of the town's population were not vaccinated. Ethel Cromwell Ethel Cromwell was around 14 years old when her photograph was taken in a hospital in Gloucester, following admission with smallpox. She was not vaccinated, but recovered. File:Gloucester smallpox epidemic, 1896; Ethel Cromwell Wellcome V0031460.jpg|Ethel Cromwell (with smallpox) File:Gloucester smallpox epidemic, 1896; Ethel Cromwell Wellcome V0031461.jpg|Ethel Cromwell (convalescing) File:Malignant smallpox (cropped).jpg|Ephraim Beard with smallpox. Died on 13 April 1896 ==Response==

An isolation hospital, the Stroud Road hospital was built in response. One reaction was that it led to prejudice against Gloucesterians. On 13 August 1896, the Royal College of Surgeons of England published a report by the Royal Commission on Vaccination, whose members included Lord Herschell and Sir James Paget. A subsequent outbreak of smallpox occurred in 1923. ==See also==