CONTAGIOUS DISEASES: SMALL-POX
Now we will proceed to deal with the treatment of contagious diseases.
They have a common origin, but, since small-pox is by far the most
important of them, we will give a separate chapter to it, dealing with
the rest in another chapter. We are all terribly afraid of the
small-pox, and have very crude notions about it. We in India even
worship it as a deity. In fact it is caused, just like other diseases,
by the blood getting impure owing to some disorder of the bowels; and
the poison that accumulates in the system is expelled in the form of
small-pox. If this view is correct, then there is absolutely no need to
be afraid of small-pox. If it were really a contagious disease, everyone
should catch it by merely touching the patient; but this is not always
the case. Hence there is really no harm in touching the patient,
provided we take some essential precautions in doing so. We cannot, of
course, assert that small-pox is never transmitted by touch, for those
that are physically in a condition favourable to its transmission will
catch it. This is why, in a locality where small-pox has appeared, many
people are found attacked by it at the same time. This has given rise to
the superstition that it is a contagious disease, and hence to the
attempt to mislead the people into the belief that vaccination is an
effective means of preventing it. The process of vaccination consists in
injecting into the skin the liquid that is obtained by applying the
discharge from the body of a small-pox patient to the udder of a cow.
The original theory was that a single vaccination would suffice to keep
a man immune from this disease for life; but, when it was found that
even vaccinated persons were attacked by the disease, a new theory came
into being that the vaccination should be renewed after a certain
period, and to-day it has become the rule for all persons--whether
already vaccinated or not--to get themselves vaccinated whenever
small-pox rages as an epidemic in any locality, so that it is no
uncommon thing to come across people who have been vaccinated five or
six times, or even more.
Vaccination is a barbarous practice, and it is one of the most fatal of
all the delusions current in our time, not to be found even among the
so-called savage races of the world. Its supporters are not content with
its adoption by those who have no objection to it, but seek to impose it
with the aid of penal laws and rigorous punishments on all people alike.
The practice of vaccination is not very old, dating as it does only from
1798 A.D. But, during this comparatively short period that has elapsed,
millions have fallen a prey to the delusion that those who get
themselves vaccinated are safe from the attack of small-pox. No one can
say that small-pox will necessarily attack those who have not been
vaccinated; for many cases have been observed of unvaccinated people
being free from its attack. From the fact that some people who are not
vaccinated do get the disease, we cannot, of course, conclude that they
would have been immune if only they had got themselves vaccinated.
Moreover, vaccination is a very dirty process, for the serum which is
introduced into the human body includes not only that of the cow, but
also of the actual small-pox patient. An average man would even vomit at
the mere sight of this stuff. If the hand happens to touch it, it is
always washed with soap. The mere suggestion of tasting it fills us with
indignation and disgust. But how few of those who get themselves
vaccinated realise that they are in effect eating this filthy stuff!
Most people know that, in several diseases, medicines and liquid food
are injected into the blood, and that they are assimilated into the
system more rapidly than if they were taken through the mouth. The only
difference, in fact, between injection and the ordinary process of
eating through the mouth is that the assimilation in the former case is
instantaneous, while that in the latter is slow. And yet we do not
shrink from getting ourselves vaccinated! As has been well said, cowards
die a living death, and our craze for vaccination is solely due to the
fear of death or disfigurement by small-pox.
I cannot also help feeling that vaccination is a violation of the
dictates of religion and morality. The drinking of the blood of even
dead animals is looked upon with horror even by habitual meat-eaters.
Yet, what is vaccination but the taking in of the poisoned blood of an
innocent living animal? Better far were it for God-fearing men that they
should a thousand times become the victims of small-pox and even die a
terrible death than that they should be guilty of such an act of
sacrilege.
Several of the most thoughtful men in England have laboriously
investigated the manifold evils of vaccination, and an Anti-Vaccination
Society has also been formed there. The members of this society have
declared open war against vaccination, and many have even gone to gaol
for this cause. Their objections to vaccination are briefly as follows:
(1) The preparation of the vaccine from the udder of cows or calves
entails untold suffering on thousands of innocent creatures, and this
cannot possibly be justified by any gains resulting from vaccination.
(2) Vaccination, instead of doing good, works considerable mischief by
giving rise to many new diseases. Even its advocates cannot deny that,
after its introduction, many new diseases have come into being.
(3) The vaccine that is prepared from the blood of a small-pox patient
is likely to contain and transmit the germs of all the several diseases
that he may be suffering from.
(4) There is no guarantee that small-pox will not attack the vaccinated.
Dr. Jenner, the inventor of vaccination, originally supposed that
perfect immunity could be secured by a single injection on a single arm;
but when it was found to fail, it was asserted that vaccination on both
the arms would serve the purpose; and when even this proved ineffectual,
it came to be held that both the arms should be vaccinated at more than
one place, and that it should also be renewed once in seven years.
Finally, the period of immunity has further been reduced to three years!
All this clearly shows that doctors themselves have no definite views on
the matter. The truth is, as we have already said, that there is no
saying that small-pox will not attack the vaccinated, or that all cases
of immunity must needs be due to vaccination.
(5) The vaccine is a filthy substance, and it is foolish to expect that
one kind of filth can be removed by another.
By these and similar arguments, this society has already produced a
large volume of public opinion against vaccination. In a certain town,
for instance, a large proportion of the people refuse to be vaccinated,
and yet statistics prove that they are singularly free from disease. The
fact of the matter is that it is only the self-interest of doctors that
stands in the way of the abolition of this inhuman practice, for the
fear of losing the large incomes that they at present derive from this
source blinds them to the countless evils which it brings. There are,
however, a few doctors who recognise these evils, and who are determined
opponents of vaccination.
Those who are conscientious objectors to vaccination should, of course,
have the courage to face all penalties or persecutions to which they may
be subjected by law, and stand alone, if need be, against the whole
world, in defence of their conviction. Those who object to it merely on
the grounds of health should acquire a complete mastery of the subject,
and should be able to convince others of the correctness of their views,
and convert them into adopting those views in practice. But those who
have neither definite views on the subject nor courage enough to stand
up for their convictions should no doubt obey the laws of the state, and
shape their conduct in deference to the opinions and practices of the
world around them.
Those who object to vaccination should observe all the more strictly the
laws of health already explained; for the strict observance of these
laws ensures in the system those vital forces which counteract all
disease germs, and is, therefore, the best protection against small-pox
as well as other diseases. If, while objecting to the introduction of
the poisonous vaccine into the system, they surrendered themselves to
the still more fatal poison of sensuality, they would undoubtedly
forfeit their right to ask the world to accept their views on the
matter.
When small-pox has actually appeared, the best treatment is the
"Wet-Sheet-Pack", which should be applied three times a day. It relieves
the fever, and the sores heal rapidly. There is no need at all to apply
oils or ointments on the sores. If possible, a mud-poultice should be
applied in one or two places. The diet should consist of rice, and light
fresh fruits, all rich fruits like date and almond being avoided.
Normally the sores should begin to heal under the "Wet-Sheet-Pack" in
less than a week; if they do not, it means that the poison in the system
has not been completely expelled. Instead of looking upon small-pox as a
terrible disease, we should regard it as one of Nature's best expedients
for getting rid of the accumulated poison in the body, and the
restoration of normal health.
After an attack of small-pox, the patient remains weak for sometime, and
in some cases even suffers from other ailments. But this is due not to
the small-pox itself; but to the wrong remedies employed to cure it.
Thus, the use of quinine in fever often results in deafness, and even
leads to the extreme form of it known as "quininism". So too, the
employment of mercury in venereal diseases leads to many new forms of
disease. Then again, too frequent use of purgatives in constipation
brings on ailments like the piles. The only sound system of treatment is
that which attempts to remove the root-causes of disease by a strict
observance of the fundamental laws of health. Even the costly _Bhasmas_
which are supposed to be unfailing remedies for such diseases are in
effect highly injurious; for, although they may seem to do some good,
they excite the evil passions, and ultimately ruin the health.
After the vesicles on the body have given place to scabs, olive oil
should be constantly applied, and the patient bathed every day. Then the
scabs rapidly fall off, and even the pocks soon disappear, the skin
recovering its normal colour and freshness.