c.1700 AD - c.1900 AD Flashcards
When were the smallpox national epidemics
1722, 1723 and 1740-42
When was the worst smallpox epidemic and how many died
1796 where 3,548 people died
What was incolation
Giving someone the virus so they couldn’t get it again in the future by rubbing pus from scabs into a cut
Why did people use inoculation
They noticed if you survived a mild strain then you didn’t get it again in the future
Why was inoculation popular with doctors
They were able to become very rich from it for example a thomas Dimsdale was paid £10,000, became a baron and was awarded a salary of £500 a year from inoculating
What did Edward Jenner discover
Milk maids in his local area who had suffered from cowpox didn’t get smallpox
How did Jenner test his theory
He infected a boy named James Phipps and 25 other with cowpox and six weeks later with smallpox and Phipps and the other didn’t catch it.
What did Jenner do with his findings
Published them in his book “An Enquiry in the Causes and Effects of the Variola Vaccinae”
He named his work vaccinations after the Latin word for cow
What short term impacts did Jenners discovery have
100,000 lives were saved by 1800 and vaccines become compulsory
What long term impact did Jenner’s discovery have on medicine
19th century doctors creating new vaccines
WHO declared smallpox eridicated from around the world in 1979
Limitations on Jenner’s impact
-Vaccines were slow to become popular due to anti-Jenner propaganda.
-It wasn’t until 1840 vaccinations were made free and inoculation was banned
-Inoculators didn’t want to lose money
-Slow government response
-Royal Society refused to publish his work
How did institution help Jenners impact
-1840 vaccines were made free inoculations were banned
-1852 compulsory vaccination for children
-1871 enforced with fines for those refusing
How many monarchs were killed and what percentage of children were killed by smallpox
-5 reigning monarchs killed
-80% of children who got it
Methods used by people to try and stop Cholera in 1854
-Burning barrels of tar, cleaning houses and smoking cigars to ward off miasma
-Praying or wearing lucky charms for religion or superstition
-Burning victims clothes - 14th, 17th and 19th century
What period was this topic between
c.1700AD - c.1900AD
What did people believe caused cholera
Main belief was miasma however there were a lot of irrational and superstitious ideas aswelll
What were the four characteristics of cholera
-Diarrhoea and sickness that caused dehydration
-Usually fatal and people die between 2-6days
-The blood would become dehydrated and get thicker, rupturing blood vessel
-It was spread through person to person contact or water
Who was John Snow
-A surgeon and London’s leading anaesthetist
-Hegave Queen Victoria chloroform during the brith of Prince Leopold in 1851
What did John Snow notice about cholera
It couldn’t be spread by miasma as it didn’t affect the lungs, but the gut. Drinking water was contaminated by cholera-ridden faeces in the city’s drains, therefore cholera was transmitted by dirty drinking water.
Where did John Snow record his findings on cholera
“On the Mode of Communication of Cholera”
How did Snow prove cholera was spread by water
He created a spot map to show where deaths in his local area had taken place, in the area around Golden Square and Broad Street. It showed infection was most likely from the Broad Street water pump, so he removed the handle so locals couldn’t pump water and the cholera outbreak went away
Why was Snow’s impact limited
-Many people rejected his work and scientists said there were other deaths that lived further away from the pump
-Board of Health still believed in miasma and they argued there was no scientific proof and cleaning the water would have been expensive
-7 years before the germ theory and 30 before Koch isolated the bacterium causing the disease
Outline the Broad Street Investigation
-Snow interviewed people to find out where they get their water from in the Soho area door to door
-Found people who died mostly go to BSP
-Brewery in BroadStreet had no brewers due as they had drunk from a well in the brewery
-Local council permitted him to remove handle
-They found a liner in a cesspit was leaking into the ground and then to the water system
How did science and technology help Snow
He used the scientific method to investigate and record his findings, so he interviewed victims and families and used a dot map
How did attitudes and institutions hinder Snow’s impact
Continued belief in miasma and reluctant to spend money without convincing/indisputable evidence
What theories about the cause of disease were popular before Pasteurs discovery
Theories such as the 4 humours had been discarded and miasma was becoming less popular
Theories like spontaneous generation had developed
What was spontaneous generation
The theory that microbes could spontaneously appear
What did microscopes make people believe in 1855
Because of improvement in the quality of glass lenses decaying matter was observed so people were urged more than ever to avoid bad smells and decaying matter like rotten food
What did Pasteur get employed as in 1857 and what did he discover
He got employed by the French wine industry to investigate why barrels of wine going off and he found that the barrels were full of microorganisms. He went on to prove they caused the wine to go bad and were causing the decay not produced by it
When and why does Pasteur challenge spontaneous generation
1860 the French Academy of Science challenged scientists to prove or disprove the theory of spontaneous generation so he took up this challenge,
What were the four key points of Louis Pasteurs of germ theory
- The air contains living microorganisms
- Microbes in the air cause decay
- Microbes are not evenly distributed in the air
- They can be killed by heating
How and when did Pasteur prove his theory was correct
He developed a swan necked flask which proved germs must exist in the air and are not produced by decay
1864
What else did Pasteur theorise about germs after finding they caused decay
That they caused disease in the human body because he observed one particular type of microorganism killing of France’s silkworm population. However he didn’t publish this until 1878 and he couldn’t identify what bacteria caused what disease
Why was Dr Bastian a limitation on Pasteurs impact
He didn’t agree with Pasteur as people have so many microbes in their system and skin that it doesn’t make sense that everyone hasn’t been made sick by the microbes
Why was Pasteurs impact limited
He didn’t have a large short term impact because his theories weren’t accepted by other doctors in the community
He originally struggled to link his germ theory to disease and infection because he couldn’t explain the logic behind his reasoning as he could not identify which bacteria caused what disease
Who ran 18th century hospitals
Founded using donations from wealthy people and from members of the new middle classes (Lawyers, businessmen etc,)
Who worked in hospitals
Some doctors offered to work for free to practice their skills. Doctors visited patients regularly, surgeon or apothecary for daily treatments and small stuff or untrained nurses for care
