19th Century Medicine

-Observed Farmers were immune to small pox after contracting cow pox.

-Granted money from government to open vaccination clinic after proving his hideas would work.

-Made vaccination for small pox from cow pox virus.

-Jenner tested this vaccination on a young boy, young boy got cowpox then was inoculated with small pox, the boy showed no symptoms

-FACED OPPOSITION: work rejected by Royal Society, people believed a disease for cows would not be good for them, germ theory not discoverd yet so he could not prove HOW it worked.

-In 1852 government made vaccinations compulsary

-Snows discovery made MP's more and more convinced something had to be done about River Thames 

-Great Stink from river Thames was unbearable and effected the parliament building next to Thames

- John Snow proved through statistics that an outbreak of cholera was centred around a water pump, So the river Thames caused Cholera outbreaks due to it being contaminated with sewage.

-Technology such as microscopes helped rivals Pasteur and Koch to look at bacteria in more detail

- Louis Pasteur replaced spontaneous generation theory with the correct Germ Theory (germs cause diseases)

-Robert Koch proved pasteurs Germ Theory, he also developed vaccinations for Cholera, Tubercolosis and other diseases.

Joseph Lister = Carbolic Acid as an antiseptic for infection

- Government did not develop public health as they did not want to Laissez-Faire

- Towns were overcrowded, Lack of sewage system, DIet and hygiene was poor

- Report by Edwin Chadwick showed something had to be done about living conditions

- Measure involved in 1848 public health act:

• need for cleaner conditions
• removal of sewage from streets
• cleaner water and higher taxes

- Problems: Germ theory came after health act so there was no link between germs and & diseases, Rich did not want to pay for poor