19th Century Medicine: public health Flashcards
What were the symptoms of cholera?
Diarrhoea, sickness, dehydration, blue skin
How was cholera spread?
Through person-to-person contact or contaminated water
Why did cholera mainly affect the poor?
Slums, workhouses and asylums had lots of people living very close to each other, sharing the water supply
Who published his Report on the Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Classes in 1842?
Edwin Chadwick
What did Edwin Chadwick discover about life expectancy in 1842?
People in cities had a much lower life expectancy (15 in Liverpool) than people in the countryside (38)
When did the government introduce the first Public Health Act?
1848
What were the provisions of the first Public Health Act?
Local councils were encouraged to collect taxes to pay for public health improvements, if they had the support of local tax-payers
Councils were allowed to appoint medical officers of health
Why did the 1848 Public Health Act make little difference to people’s health?
It was not compulsory
How did John Snow think cholera was spread?
Dirty drinking water
How did John Snow investigate deaths from cholera?
He plotted the deaths on a street map
What did John Snow discover when he plotted the deaths from cholera near his doctor’s surgery?
The deaths were centred around the water pump on Broad Street
Why did workers at a local brewery near Broad Street NOT die from cholera?
They drank beer, not water, and the brewery had its own water supply
What did John Snow do when he realised why people were dying from cholera on Broad Street?
Removed the handle from the water pump
In what year did John Snow present his ideas to Parliament?
1855
What was the ‘Great Stink’ of 1858?
In a hot summer, the water levels of the River Thames fell and exposed sewage, creating a smell reaching Parliament
How did Parliament respond to the Great Stink?
They approved the building of a modern sewer system in London
In what year was Joseph Bazalgette’s sewer system in London finished?
1875
What was the limitation of John Snow’s work?
He could not explain WHY dirty water led to cholera
When was John Snow’s work proved correct, and by whom?
1883 - Robert Koch
What approach did the government have to public health before the second half of the 19th century?
‘Laissez-faire’: it was not their responsibility to interfere in the way people lived
What happened in 1867 which changed the attitudes of government towards public health?
All men were given the right to vote
When did the government pass the second Public Health Act?
1875
Describe THREE provisions of the 1875 Public Health Act
Any three from:
City authorities had to provide clean water
Sewage had to be disposed of to prevent water from being polluted
Public toilets had to be built
Every city had to appoint a public health officer
Inspections of lodging houses
Public parks provided for exercise
Street lighting to prevent accidents
The quality of food in shops would be checked
