John Snow and Chloera

A set of notes outlining what chloera is, how it is spread and who discovered it.

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1. In the nineteenth century, the population of Britain was growing and towns couldn't afford to provide everyone with facilities to remove their sewage. The mmajority of the popluation had a laissez faire attidude and they didn't agree with governments 'interfering' with peoples lives and they believed that local councils should look after their own affairs however some people thoght that it was down to the government to look after the whole country.

2. In 1834, Edward Chadwick wrote a report for the government outlining his ideas connecting chloera and dirty living conditions. However he blamed the causes of chloera on decaying animals, vegetable substances and overcrowded living conditions. He said that to prevent chloera, rubbish should be removed from the streets and there should be an improvement in water supplies. He explained that the expenses of public drainage would save money in the long term as less money would be spent on sickness and mortality.

3.When Edwin Chadwick presented his report to the government, the government took no notice of it as it would cost too much money to put it into practice.

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4. In the year 1854 - cholera came back even stronger. Dr John Snow discovered that chloera was spread by dirty water. He studied one area of London, particularly the area around Broad Street; there were five hundred deaths due to chloera in the short span of ten days and the causualties died within hours and the symptons were diarrhoea and vomiting which meant that lots of fluid could be lost each hour.

5. Dr John Snow used careful research, obeservation and house to house research to come to the conlclusion that a pump on Broad Street had infected water and only the people drinking water from the pump were affected by chloera. He got permission to remove the handle of the pump on Broad Street and he later found out how the water had become infected. There was cesspool full of raw sewage which was one metre away from the pump and it had a cracked lining which meant the contents were seeping into the drinking water. It went round in a vicious circle as the faeces and urine from the infected paitents were making their way back into the drinking water and therefore more people were being afffected.

6. John Snow died three years before the publications of Pasteurs germ theory which helped explain his results and in 1875, a second Punblci Health was passed to make clean water, drains, sewers and street lighting complusory and all councils had to have a Medical Officer of Health.

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