3.1 Public Health Flashcards
How did the population change between the 1700s and 1800s in England.
How else was the population changing?
In 1781 there was a population of 13 million which became a population of 31 million in 1871.
By 1939 it was 39 million.
As the industrial revolution opened up jobs in factories and mills people MOVED to towns to work in these jobs.
What were the 3 responsible factors for the increasing population between 1811 and 1841?
What was the impact of this?
- The death rate fell
- Birth rate rose
- Marriage rate rose
This population increase meant there were larger crowds and an influx of people with inadequate public health and housing arrangements.
Why did the death rate fall?
- The smallpox vaccine prevented many deaths from happening
- Growth in agricultural industry provided a better quality and quantity of food.
- The invention of soap allowed people to be more hygienic.
- The growth of the textile industry provided materials like cotton cloth that could be easily washed.
Why did the birth rate rise?
-As the death rate fell more people got to 20s and 30s and had children. These children too went on to have children.
Why did the marriage rate rise?
- In rural areas farmers employed fewer live-in servants so it was easier for agricultural workers to marry.
- Industrialisation meant that unskilled workers were taking the employment of skilled craftsmen which meant they could marry as they had a job.
- As there was no contraception it meant more babies.
What were the two impacts on living conditions of the industrial revolution?
- Housing
- Sanitation
How did the industrial revolution impact housing?
- bad housing was not only a product of the industrial revolution as there had been bad housing through medieval London.
- Agricultural labourers lived in conditions no better than the animals they looked after.
- DWELLINGS AND ATTICS- industrial revolution led to widespread overcrowding. Vacant space was adapted and new dwellings were built. People lived in attics.
- PROXIMITY OF RICH AND POOR- middle class moved out of smut-laden pall that covered cities.
What was the new housing that followed the industrial revolution?
-Houses were fast growing but poorly built. With floors being bare boards over beaten earth.
- Rows of industrial cottages were common in the north.
- Back to back houses in Lancashire
- Enclosed courtyards in Birmingham
- Vast tenements in Glasgow.
What were the two aspects of sanitation?
- Lavatories
- Water
What were the lavatories?
- Lavatories were built outside courtyards and emptied out by night soil men. Who sold it on.
- Some houses had own privies where contents were covered with Ash.
- Middle-class had flushing privies but these flushed into nearby cesspits, that had to be emptied.
What was water like during industrial revolution?
- Supply of water was expensive and controlled by vested interest water companies.
- Middle-class had water piped to houses and because the supply was uncertain they stored it in large cisterns.
- In poorer areas people queued with buckets to buy water.
- If they could not afford they took water from streams
Why was life expectancy low in the first half of the 19th century
-Overcrowding spread by lice, which spread typhus fever. Typhus epidemics in 1837 and 1839.
Outbreak in 1847 killed 100,000 people in north west England.
- Influenza, Scarlett fever and tuberculosis were endemic.
- Typhoid and diarrhoea were common.
-Cholera hit Britain in 4 epidemics.
The first 1831-1832 killed 31,000 and the second in 1848-1849 killed 62,000
What were the two main theories of disease in the 19th century?
- Miasma theory
- Germ theory
What was the miasma theory of disease?
- You could get ill from breathing in bad air
- This poisonous gas got you ill as it carried disease.
- This was a popular belief for public health officials as the most foul smelling areas had the highest death rate.
What was the germ theory of disease?
- Scientists became interested in decaying matter and the organisms that lived on it.
- When Joseph Lister invented microscope. 1000x
- 1867 Louis Pasteur invented germ theory when he realised specific organism was producing disease in silkworms.
- 1880 Robert Koch proved this
Why was cholera a unique epidemic and when was it?
1832.
Could strike quickly and had 40-60% fatality.
What were the cholera phobia riots?
-30 cholera phobia riots in cities around Britain for example Birmingham, Bristol, Exeter.
What were the worst cholera phobia riots?
How did it end?
- The Liverpool riots between 29th May and 8th June 1832. 8 major riots.
- The riots were not against the disease but because belief that cholera victims were being taken for dissection.
-This belief was held because;
1826, 33 bodies were found at Liverpool docks.
1828 William Gill was found guilty of grave robbing system.
Ended due to the plea of local catholic clergy and doctor James collins.
What happened in Exeter?
-Exeter authorities instituted regulations for the disposal of cholera infected corpses and their clothing and bedding. People rioted and attacked gravediggers.