What medicine was like in the 19th century

Question 1

How they thought caused illness

Answer 1

Spontaneous Generation was popular around 1800, Germ theory after 1861, Specific germs discovered in the 18702/80s/90s.

Question 2

How they prevented illness

Answer 2

Government made smallpox vaccination compulsory, Germ knowledge led to more vaccines, Better government involvement in public health.

Question 3

How they treated illness

Answer 3

Florence Nightingale improved hospitals, Still no successful man made chemical cures by 1899.