Introduction
The evolution of the public health care to the present form has been long and went through various stages in history characterized by various events that shaped it to the present form. These stages were marked by various landmark events that helped the policy makers to shape the public health policy. The London cholera epidemic and the emergence of Dr. John Snow were particular events that helped to shape the public health.
The London Cholera epidemic
In the February of 1854, a deadly cholera epidemic struck Soho in the East of London leading to heavy devastation of the neighborhood. Similar spurts had been witnessed before but it was this outbreak that really woke up the medical professionals and state officials from ignorance. Soho neighborhood had been characterized by unsanitary conditions which included animal waste from cowsheds, slaughter houses, and decaying sewers (Summers, 1989). There were also several poorly drained cesspits below floorboards of most of the overcrowded cellars in the neighborhoods. The deplorable conditions in the neighborhood were openly a disaster in the waiting.
There were largely held beliefs that cholera was caused by mists and miasmic atmosphere. Medical researchers at the time had very little information on the diseases. It was evident that even after the previous epidemic in 1853 had killed up to ten thousand London inhabitants, very little effort had been put to address the cause of the disease. Dr John Snow, the father of epidemiology from his research advanced an idea that it was caused by contaminated water an idea that received heavy opposition from both leaders and other medical professionals. Earlier on, no measures had been taken to contain previous outbreaks till the 1854 outbreak rampaged through the industrial cities killing thousands of people (Johnson, 2006). From the Broad street pump, cholera outbreak spread to the rest of the East London at an alarming rate leading to deaths of about 616 people. Most households lost some members and as a result residents fled the area leaving the weakest.
Dr Snow believed that the cause of the outbreak was the contamination of water from sewage from which he narrowed one source of contamination as a water company in South London. His claims were vehemently denied by the company and the authorities. He cemented his theory by linking the 1854 outbreak to water pump in the Broad Street which according to him was the epicenter of the outbreak. His interviews in the district linked most of the infections and deaths to the pump. On examining the water from the source, he found white particles which he believed were the causative agents of the disease. His argument was that if the epidemic had been caused by the said mists and miasma, the disease would have been uniformly spread geographically. He mapped the area and found that rather than a uniform spread, the diseases infections were clustered around the water pump from where he later studied and found the bacteria. Further, supporting evidence was given from a local workhouse whose occupants were unaffected because they had their own water source that had not been contaminated.
Several other versions emerged to explain the cause but the most intriguing was given by Rev. Henry Whitehead who claimed that it was the work of Devine intervention. To prove his point he presented his report to the authorities. However, his report was in another sense a confirmation of Dr Snow’s findings and even generated more insight into the epidemic. It brought out the collaborative evidence of contamination from a story of a sick child whose soiled water was thrown into a leaking cesspool next the Broad Street well. On being published at the Builder magazine, the Whitehead’s findings led the discovery that no mitigating measures were taken by the authorities to improve the environment in the following year (Summers, 1989). The Builder magazine led the campaign for clean up of the area and removal of the cesspools. However, the cholera outbreak continued to spread in mild form to the1880s until all the shallow water pumps had been cleared.
As a result of Dr Snow’s research work and findings, it is today well documented that cholera disease is caused by a bacteria called vibria cholerae whose mode of infection is through contaminated drinking water. This helped clear the earlier held misconceptions about the causes of the disease (Woodward & Richards, 1977). As a result, public health officials are able to contain and avoid similar epidemics today. Similarly, the authorities in association with the public health officials are able to formulate public health policies to govern health. Government responses in such instances today are faster and more precise helping to avoid loss of human lives as a result of infections. As a result of his works during the epidemic, modern epidemiology emerged. His findings thus helped to save several lives thereafter through improved health care, better disease surveillance, and treatment of other diseases. After the epidemic, the board of health swung into action to search for remedies that would resolve the crisis at the time (Marsden, 1999). London Homeopathic hospitals emerged with the best public health service care which helped to boost its public image. The hospitals were ordered to replace their traditional medical approaches with the modern highly successful ones.
Conclusion
The London’s cholera epidemic caused heavy devastation in the Soho neighborhood in East London. Many lives were lost as a result of contamination of The Broad Street water pump from a nearby cesspool. The long held believes that cholera was caused by mists and miasma was disapproved by Dr Snow who found bacteria in the contaminated water. The findings were strengthened by the report of Rev Whitehead from a story of one of the children who had been taken ill. These in addition helped to shape the public health care to the current day.
Reference List
Johnson, S. (2006). The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic–And How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World, Riverhead Books.
Marsden, R. (2010). John Snow and the Broad Street Cholera Outbreak of 1854. Web.
Summers, J. (1989). Soho – A History of London’s Most Colorful Neighborhood. London, Bloomsbury, 1989, pp. 113-117.
Woodward, J., Richards, D. (1977). Health care and popular medicine in nineteenth century England: essays in the social history of medicine, London: Taylor & Francis.