PERIPHERAL NERVE AND ROOT DISTURBANCES FOLLOWING VACCINATION AGAINST SMALLPOX

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Abstract
REPORTS on complications of smallpox vaccination have been appearing in both the lay and the medical literature for generations and the conditions have included urticarial1 and erythematous rashes, generalized vaccinia,2 local ulceration, lymph node abscesses, gangrene, tetanus, nephritis,3 purpura,4 encephalitis,5 myelitis6 and peripheral neuritis. It is with the last-mentioned entity that this paper is concerned. Whereas there have probably been over 700 reported cases of postvaccinal encephalitis, there are but 7 reported cases of postvaccinal "neuritis" found in the literature, nearly all of which are questionable. In the League of Nations report7 and in that of a British committee reviewing the subject of the postvaccinal nervous system complications,8 there is no reference to single or to multiple neuritides. Because of the rarity of the condition, because of its striking clinical picture and its good prognosis and because the reported cases were not