Mixbury

In the case of the modern smallpox vaccine 150 years, but point taken. They both have serious side effects in the 1-2% range though, so the agent would need to be fairly virulent to justify use. Smallpox for example.

Ladyfliestheredwhiteandblues

I was not given the smallpox vaccine as a child in the UK. This was the early 60s when it was already being phased out.
The same for my husband who went on to have it later as a pre req to travelling to the US at the time. There will be a large unvaccinated population now if those data points are anything to go on.
As pointed out above it’s not really known yet whether a childhood vaccine offers protection decades later.
Given that monkey pox is quite a mild disease I look forward to the hysteria that we are about to see. Sigh …

lorcancoyle

Which days SYD-SIN would they have worked if the SIN-LHR on 21st was the one impacted?

(I was on the 19th SYD-SIN-LHR so hoping the answer is 20th…)

corporate-wage-slave

In England and Wales the last cohort to get a Smallpox vaccine was in the 1971-1972 academic year. It was administered pre-school, but school nurses checked admissions against that timeframe and after those routine imms on infants had stopped, school nurses would have swept up missed cases until about 1977. Children coming in from overseas still got it until 1978-79. Pretty much all people 52 and over would have had smallpox vaccine, and half those aged over 51 and under 52.

Ladyfliestheredwhiteandblues

And yet I and my 62 year old husband did not? Our mothers did not refuse it and we had no school nurse offering it either so there is something missing in those stats.

corporate-wage-slave

There were outbreaks in the mid 1960s in working class areas that weren't properly covered by post-natal jabs.Also there was one outbreak at a public school with kids from the last remnants of the Empire. If you were born before (ahem) 1968 it would have been very difficult not to get the jab due to the kerfuffle these events caused. Normally you would have got it with all the infant jabs, and I suspect your mother's recollection was simply hazy. Did you not get the diphtheria jab for example? Some communities did miss out, notably Romany kids and the Windrush generation.

1Aturnleft

They probably did operate your SYD-SIN sector. Unless you were in direct bodily contact with their rash, or enjoying a snog (or more) with the crew member in question, I would say your chances are pretty good for not contracting it.

Ladyfliestheredwhiteandblues

Yes I had all recommended childhood jabs. The GP told my parents that smallpox vaccine was now no longer essential and they could make the choice. Same for my husband of the same vintage. I’m absolutely sure of these facts and nor was my GP particularly surprised later that I didn’t have it and there was no mopping up exercise where we lived. I can say with certainty that I was not unusual in my school cohort either.

corporate-wage-slave

There was an outbreak in Bradford in 1962 which stemmed from someone bringing the virus into a hospital from overseas. There was also an outbreak in the Glasgow tenements a few weeks later though that was probably unrelated. This caused a renewed focus on vaccinations in that period. It wouldn't normally have been GPs doing these jabs, it was usually arranged by nurses connected from hospitals via midwifery, so done by Secondary not Primary Care. When we look at T-cell responses in people aged 55 plus today there is significant evidence of smallpox vaccination. Most of those who have been caught the virus recently are under 50, there are a few exceptions, and the older Smallpox vaccines aren't totally effective on the current epidemic.

Ladyfliestheredwhiteandblues

I don’t doubt anything you say but I know the facts pertaining to me and others in my age group. We didn’t all have it and were under no pressure to do so. My mother would certainly have followed medical advice.

1P

AS CWS has implied, you would have received the jab at school, not via your GP. I remember having jabs at school in the 1950s, but have no idea what they were — I assume diphtheria, smallpox and polio immunizations, since these were routinely given to everyone.

Mixbury

I assume you have checked your left arm?

Ladyfliestheredwhiteandblues

Oh hilarious! Yes and my medical records although we know they can be suspect.

corporate-wage-slave

The United Kingdom Vaccination Act 1853, which made smallpox vaccination compulsory, was only repealed on 1 August 1971, and in1969 over half a million Snallpox vaccines were administered. It was quite a big thing at the time, since it was considered a huge success by the agencies of public health. Did some children slip through the net? Yes, we know they did. Did many? From the data only a small percentage.

Mixbury

Yes, wasn't intending to be sceptical, I did assume you had no vaccine scar. Apologies if it came across otherwise.