Multiple Vaccinia of the Eyelids.

IN times of mass vaccination, instances of auto-inoculation from a vaccination pustule, or contamination from a recently vaccinated case, are not very uncommon. In the 4 months immediately following the outbreak of smallpox in Bradford (Douglas and Edgar, 1962), the Public Health Laboratory Service reported in the British Isles nineteen cases of accidental vaccinial infection of the eyes, and in each case the vaccinia virus was isolated from the eyelids or conjunctiva. Moffatt (1952) and Frampton and Smith (1952) noted that over 200 cases of ocular infection by vaccinia had been reported since 1796. Case Report A 12-year-old schoolgirl was first seen in the Salisbury Infirmary Eye Clinic in February, 1961, with a hordeolum of the left lower lid, and 2 months later with a hordeolum of the left upper lid. On February 15, 1962, she noticed a "stye" on her left upper lid and consulted her own doctor, who commenced treatment with penicillin ointment. After 3 days there was considerable swelling of the left lids, and by February 19 the right lids were also swollen. She came to the Infirmary on February 20, when she was immediately admitted. She had never been vaccinated, but her father had had a fairly severe primary vaccination "take" 10 days before the onset of his daughter's illness. At about the same time several girls at her school had been vaccinated.