Disease and Public Health

Question 1

When did Cholera break out in the 1800’s?

Answer 1

1831, -48, -53, -66.

Death was quick and painful - tens of thousands died.

Question 2

What diseases were endemic (always present in the population) in Britain?

Answer 2

• Typhoid and Typhus
• Typhoid spread through dirty water
• Typhus spread through the bite of body lice –many people had these because of poor personal hygene.

Question 3

Where and when did Cholera first arrive?

Answer 3

• 1831, Sunderland
• A germ that attacked intestines and led to death.
• Horrified Victorians as it was so quick and sudden, attacking all social classes but especially poor.

Question 4

What caused Cholera?

Answer 4

• Caused by pollution of water supply

* Sewage got into water supply

Question 5

Where were outbreaks of Cholera worst?

Answer 5

In poor areas of city centres. Few outbreaks in rural areas. Doctors realised that the later fact was important.

Question 6

How did Victorians think they should prevent Cholera?

Answer 6

• Cleaning up cities from rubbish in the streets. Miasma was used to justify this: the theory that bad air spread disease.

Question 7

How many people had died of cholera in 1832 after the first of its outbreaks?

Answer 7

21K. Many places had been affected. Then disease died out and boards of health abolished.

Question 8

What did the huge scale of the problems create, due to rapid expansion of cities?

Answer 8

Meant people did not have the knowledge, organisations or infrastructure to cope with the problems.

Question 9

Why did the government not interfere at first?

Answer 9

Thought it was wrong to interfere. Laissez-faire policies. Also, the problems did not affect the rich(they had clean water access), who just happened to be the only ones able to vote for MP’s. MP’s were the ones who made decisions for the country.

Question 10

What did then Dirty Party say?

Answer 10

They did not want to be forced to be clean.

Question 11

Why was there opposition to public health provision especially for clean water and adequate housing?

Answer 11

• Slum landlord’s profits would decrease
• People selling water would get less profit as costs of providing clean water went up.
• People did not want to pay taxes or ‘local rates’ that would cost large sums of money.