c1700-c1900: Approaches to prevention and treatment

Question 1

Change in prevention and treatment

Answer 1

Government and population are more willing to take steps to prevent disease from spreading.

Question 2

Caring for the sick - Hospitals

Answer 2

Hospital numbers started increasing again after the dissolution of the monasteries. More people with infectious diseases started coming and so, hospitals became less sanitary (doctors did not clean tools, clothes, etc. between each patient’s examination).

Question 3

Treatment - Anaesthetics

Answer 3

Simpson discovered chloroform. It was very effective and gained popularity after he administered it to Queen Victoria during childbirth. But, overdoses could kill the patient, same with other anaesthetics, e.g. ether. Laughing gas was ineffective for deeper surgery.
It had a huge short and long term impacts since it allowed deeper surgery.

Question 4

Treatment - Antiseptics

Answer 4

Lister used carbolic acid in surgery to prevent infection of the wound. He sprayed it in the air before the surgery, since it killed any bacteria present in the air.
He had a small short term impact since many scientists thought the air was not full of germs.
Fixed problem of infection, but not bleeding.

Question 5

Prevention - Vaccination

Answer 5

Using Jenner’s methods, Pasteur came up with many more vaccines (for chicken cholera) and injecting a weaker strain of the disease (obtained by Koch’s methods). This was a significant breakthrough in the prevention of disease.

Question 6

Prevention - Public Health Act, 1875

Answer 6

The Govt abandoned their laissez-faire way of thinking and started acting on people’s well-being since their votes depended on it. They proposed clean water, better sewage treatment, etc.

Question 7

Edward Jenner

Answer 7

Jenner noticed that the milkmaids who got cowpox were not infected by smallpox, so he inoculated James Phipps to test his theory.
Impact - Jenner’s vaccine had a small impact although the Govt. promoted it, due to the church (against infecting people with an animal disease), inoculators (did not want to lose their jobs) and the Royal Society (did not publish in books since there was opposition).
Short-term - saved many lives
Long-term - inspired others to develop vaccines

Question 8

Florence Nightingale

Answer 8

Improvements - Nightingale promoted pavilion style hospitals with ventilation and walls/floors which were easy to clean. The focus was on cleaning up germs using antiseptics.
Impact - reduced death rate in hospitals, inspired women to take up nursing.