John Snow's findings about Cholera

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  • Created by: spacebug
  • Created on: 17-02-19 17:01

John Snow's findings about Cholera

Causes

  • In 1854 there was a cholera epidemic in Soho, where Snow lived.
  • He wanted to investigate it. He drew a spot map of Golden Square and Broad Street and plotted on it the deaths occurring due to cholera.
  • He found that near the Broad Street pump, most cholera deaths were taking place.
  • He then removed the handle of the pump. The choler outbreak ended.
  • He presented his findings to the government and argued that fixing the sewage issue would prevent cholera outbreaks.

Effects

  • The government did not respond right away. Acknowledging him would mean fixing the water problem, which was costly.
  • Not much response from scientific community - argued that even beyond this pump, cholera still happened elsewhere. Also, Germ Theory wasn't introduced yet.
  • However, later on, Public Health Acts were passed to improve health and hygiene in society, although not a direct response to Snow.
  • 20 years later, a new sewage system was introduced. However, this wasn't just because of Snow, but also because of the Great Stink.

Overall summary

John Snow discovered the reason behind the cholera epidemics, but he did not have enough support or scientific proof to back his theory. Furthermore, the government had a laissez-faire attitude at this point and did not intervene right away. Therefore, his findings had little short term effect but they did pave the way for more knowledge and impact later on.

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