Cholera

• Cholera hit Britain 4 times during the 19th century;
  - 1831-2 killing 32,000
  - 1848-9 killing 62,000
  - 1853-4 killing 20,000
  - 1866-7 killing 14,000
• the disease scared people, mainly because of its quickness
• around 60% had fatalaities
• most killed within 48 hours
• mass riots took place because people feared;
  - that medical staff were stealing bodies
  - doctors were murdering cholera victims
  - dead bodies were being buried with no respect
• there were many theories about preventing cholera;
  - CONTAGIST; people thought they'd catch the disease if they were within close proximities within each other. Many set up quarantines. This was however disproved when familes had cholera victims but not all in the household caught it
  - MIASMIC; theory that cholera was caught by breathing in 'bad air'. This did lead to some improvements like cleaning up excrement but for all the wrong reasons
  - PRAYER; was encouraged by Christian churches, thought cholera was a punishment from God

REACTION OF GOVERNMENT:

• the cholera outbreak certainly grabbed the government's attention because previously, they would just brush off the diseases
• they very quickly set up a Board of Health

ACTIONS AND ADVICE OF BOARD OF HEALTH:

• advised local government's to set up…